


Sand Storm

by prettygirllostt



Category: Original Work
Genre: Different World, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, I promise, Violence, and a bloodthirsty leader, and pantheons, it's cool, there are gods - Freeform, what if the villain just wants to be bad?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:15:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettygirllostt/pseuds/prettygirllostt
Summary: Vashti Valeria is bored. She's bored with her life, bored with the choices laid in front of her and just plain bored of the structure. She is blessed by the goddess Syria, the goddess of sand and snakes. She is powerful and she is lucky. The daughter of a rich family, she was never sold like others born like her. She wasn't forced to serve human masters. But she is angry. When Syria issues a challenge, Vashti rises to it. With the help of a demi-god, Aze, and a fire blessed, Elvad, she begins a journey that will change the very world she lives in.This story follows Vashti as she tries to take over the world.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been bugged by the trope of a tortured villain. I wanted to write a strong, cruel, woman who didn't need trauma to become that way. Vashti is unforgiving and unyielding and she's not sorry. This was a writing exercise that turned into more. I hope you enjoy it.

SHE was born in a sandstorm. Her mother would blame that for the rest of her life. Not that it mattered much. She couldn’t change it. No one could. 

She was born bored. A dark skinned child in a society family, she lived on the ennui of her upbringing as all those who had come before her had. 

She was born cruel. Even as a babe she would bite deep into her mother’s breast to draw blood and giggle at her pain. 

She was born chosen. A siren of the goddess of sand, she was precocious and powerful before she took her first steps. 

She was born for something bigger and no one wanted to admit it. 

“I don’t like this,” her mother fretted when the baby pulled a mild sandstorm into her room. 

“What do you want to do?” her father asked, peering around the door as the baby shrieked in joy. 

“We could offer her to the temples,” her mother said hopefully. 

“And tell them what? We’ve spurned the goddess by pushing her chosen child out of our house? That might work for the lower tiers but we have means! If we drop her at the doorstep of a temple, we would be seen as weak. Would that help us?” her father asked incredulously. 

Her mother blushed furiously and wrung her hands, the bangles on her wrists clanging together. “We have 6 other children. Couldn’t we cite that?”

“Then they’d ask why we don’t offer up one of our lessers to serve in her place,” he sighed. The politics of the temple could be intricate for high born families. While those from lower born families could simply be sold, high born children were to be raised by their family until something went wrong. Though the others on the surface understood the struggle of parenting a chosen child, they would look down upon those parents who didn’t try to rise to the challenge and honor the gods. 

“So we’re stuck with her?” her mother breathed deeply and peeked back into the room. The baby was spinning in a circle in the middle of the sand storm. Her chubby fists were grasping handfuls of the golden dust as it swirled around her and her black eyes were wide as she giggled. 

“It seems so,” her father said with disappointment. 

And that was the start. Only the start.

 

WHEN she was 32, little more than a chubby child on toddling legs, she lit the lower living area on fire. The open windows billowed the flames outwards and the fine leopard rug seemed to shriek as it burned. The child stood in the middle of the burning, laughing and unhurt, as her family panicked.  They put it out quickly but when she was asked why she did it she only shrugged.

“Seemed like fun,” she said. 

 

When she was 48 she took a hot brand meant to mark their herd of cattle and seared it into her father’s flesh. His screams could be heard across the whole estate and in the blinding lights of the three suns, the preteen laughed. She was spoken to by the elders of the temple but still she only smiled. 

“The goddess has blessed me. She doesn’t mind,” she said, curving her hands in the mark of praise along her chest. 

Her father never stood too close to her again. 

 

When she was 52 she forced her siblings to their knees. She was the most powerful of them all and when she sneered at them, they fell. She collared them, walking them down the warm, stone hallways and letting the sand sting them as it flew in with the wind. She made them crawl until their knees were bloody and her mother pleaded for her to stop.

“Why?” she asked, her head cocked to the side. 

“They’re my children,” her mother begged.

“So am I,” she said. 

“No,” her mother said, her voice shaking with anger, “No. You are not. You’re an abomination.” 

She yawned. “Maybe. But what are they?”

“What?” her mother asked.

“I’m an abomination. Chosen by Syria and blessed with her wild abandon. But what. About. Them,” she asked, yanking on the ropes around her sibling’s throats so they whimpered. 

“I don’t know what you’re asking,” her mother said, her eyes on her children’s raw throats. 

“I am blessed. But what are they? Born into a high family, yes. Given the best schooling, yes. But what have they been given that makes them better? Who chose them for this? I was chosen. But what of them?” she asked. 

And her mother, who avoided using her name whenever possible, let her lips form the letters. “Vashti-”

“Don’t whine at me. I am the youngest. I am the strongest. And still you let my lessers walk in front of me. I don’t want your home or your status. I simply want what I deserve,” Vashti smiled. It was cruel. 

“What do you believe that is?” her mother asked. 

“Everything,” Vashti said. Then she viciously yanked on the ropes. 

  
  


BY the time she was 55 no one in her family would go near her. Those in the temple feared her. The only friends she had were the sand snakes she found in the dunes. She didn’t mind. As she twirled the topaz studs into the holes above her eyebrows she hummed to herself. She slowly sunk the golden ring into her lower lip and fed its chain down to the hook in her belly button. Each earring was placed in her ear gently so the line went from bright gold to teal along the curve of her cartilage. She looked into the water mirror suspended above her vanity and ran her hands down her slim hips to the small studs on each side. The tattoo marks that curved along her breasts and down around her waist and stomach stood stark gold and white against her dark skin. They praised her goddess in swirled prayers and it was with reverence that she tied the gauzy white skirt to her waist and never ending sack to her waist. In the light of the morning the rings in her breasts winked. She smiled. 

“A new day,” she told herself as she leaned in closer to the mirror, black kohl in her hand to line her eyes. 

_ A new day to rise to. My dearest Vashti, it is time to claim your prize.  _

The goddess often spoke to her  in encouragements but this was more direct. 

“My prize?” she asked aloud, pinning her long braids to the top of her head. 

_ You have shown strength. You are more than they wish to admit. Leave them. Do not look back. Leave them and  _ _ find me.  _

She lined her lips with gold powder and painted her thick upper lip before blotting it onto the lower one. 

“And if I don’t?” she asked.

_ You will. You know what you deserve. Come. Find me, Vashti. Be my second.  _

“I am no one’s second,” Vashti shot back. 

_ I would make you a queen of this world. Look quickly. I have sent you a gift if you find it fast enough. Go. Find me. Don’t you want some fun?  _

Vashti smiled at that. Syria had always been able to get under her skin. Lifting her left hand she let a small sandstorm form in her palm. It settled to show a small knife made of pressed sand.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” 

_ Play the game Vashti. Maybe you’ll win.  _

The goddess’ voice faded away, leaving Vashti with a vague notion of which direction to walk in.

“It’s about time,” she said. Without another thought she walked out the door. She would never return to live in her family’s home.

 

THEY were all eating when she walked into the room. She watched them shrink back with satisfaction. Two of her siblings had never fully healed from her collaring them and those two sat close together, glowering at her. She only beamed. 

“It seems, family, that you are finally getting what you’ve wished for. I’m leaving. For good. The goddess has called and I will listen. The only thing I require from you is access to the vault. You understand of course. I know the temple paid you to fund my schooling and that you kept the money. I want it now. It is mine to claim,” she said. 

Her mother, hands shaking on her glass of cool milk, nodded.

 

“If that is all you ask we are happy to oblige,” she said. Though her father hissed through his teeth Vashti kept her eyes on her mother. 

“Yes. You always did wish to rid yourselves of me. Pity. It could have been so much fun to stay here. Well then?” she held out her hand and her mother looked pleadingly at her father. 

“Please,” she begged, “It isn’t our fortune to keep. Not this piece. Let her have it and she’ll go. Please.”

Her father hated to part with wealth. He had grown in this family. In the city above the sand. He had seen the elite fall to the depths of the lower city as quickly as the first sun rose. He didn’t wish to be one of them. But to rid himself of his daughter he would do anything. He handed his wife the key. She nodded at him and tossed it to Vashti.

“Now go,” she said, her voice shaking, “Go. And don’t come back.” 

“Oh now mother dear. You know I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Vashti said over her shoulder as she turned to go. Her laughter could be heard echoing down the hall as she left. Her family slumped, finally rid of the burden they had feared for so long. After a moment, they went back to eating. 

 

THE city of Alyria was a gleaming and sculpted place. Vashti walked outside of her family’s large estate and took a deep breath, enjoying the hot sand on her feet. Not many could walk barefoot on the burning grains but she had been blessed. A chosen one of Syria could withstand any heat, thanks to goddess’ love affair with the god of fire, Jordan. 

She surveyed the city around her. Tall, columned buildings made of marble and packed sand. Jade, turquoise, sun stone, and fine mined opals adorned the homes so the light refracted off of them. The roads, made of  packed golden sand, could blind those who weren’t used to the it and the three suns had moved into a line, showing it was close to the middle of the day. 

“By the third sun of Alyria, I will win this,” she muttered to herself before heading for the woods of Oasis. 

Those blessed by Oasis were considered the most lucky. While Vashti could manipulate the sand into any form, those blessed by Oasis could call water to them. They were the most coveted of the blessed and called Sea Sirens to those who caught one. Mostly women, they were beautiful and tended to have milky skin next to the darker tones of their fellow desert people. As Vashti headed into the lands claimed by Oasis she felt a shiver go up her spine. Other than trips to the crisp waterfall deep within the wood, she hadn’t stepped into a land claimed by another god. It put her on edge. 

“Relax,” she said to the Earth around her, “I’m not here to harm you. I’m simply passing through.”

And it was true. Vashti was cruel, not stupid. She wouldn’t burn a patch of land she could lay no claim to. Wars with the gods seldom ended well. She carefully placed one foot in front of the other on the curved path. There were no snakes here for her. No one to help her. Her goddess would not come to her aid here. She wasn’t surprised when the world around her fell quiet but she was surprised to see a crying child on the path, rags curved around her white skin, red with welts. 

 

“Help me,” the child begged, turning blue eyes up to Vashti. 

Vashti surveyed the child. Her lip curled. “No,” she said. Something didn’t feel right about the sobbing babe. 

The child looked pleadingly up at Vashti. “I’ve been hurt. I’ve run from my master.” 

“No you haven’t,” Vashti denied, “You’re a trick. A hallucination from Oasis to make me stray. Go away. I have places to be.” 

The child pouted. “And how would  _ you  _ know what I am? My masters have whipped me until I bled. They killed my mother.” 

Vashti cocked her head, her hands on her hips. “No,” she said again, “Something happened to you. But it wasn’t that. You aren’t a slave’s child.” 

“How do you  _ know?”  _ the child demanded, standing and turning to look at Vashti. Something inside the child’s body echoed and its eyes flashed. Vashti smiled widely, her white teeth flashing. 

“You aren’t a child. You’re too white to not be blind on our surface. A slave would have a brand. And no slave child would have the audacity to talk to someone of my rank. What are you, really? Whatever it is, it’s powerful,” Vashti said. 

The child gazed back. Inside its mind, it debated. It had been traveling for such a long time to find its father. It had not yet gotten there. But something in this young woman was alluring and just maybe she could help. The child had learned to be resourceful, to be appealing. It smiled back, letting every ounce of its inhuman soul seep through. 

“Very good,” it said, releasing the tight leash it kept on its true being, “Not many can see what you’ve seen. Who are you blessed by?” 

Vashti didn’t answer. Instead she hooked the sand knife she’d created under its chin and lifted until the child stood on its toes. “I asked first. Now show me or I’ll cut your throat, Oasis be damned.” 

“Oasis doesn’t care about blood spilled on his land. It feeds his trees. Gives life to this land like nothing else. Why do you think he fights such wars?” the child asked. 

“But to spill blood by the hand of his enemy….” Vashti trailed off. The child’s eyes widened. 

“That’s what’s in you. You’re favored by Syria. Fantastic. What a beautifully destructive power. Tell me, siren, would you help a fellow blessed?” the child asked, staying on its toes until Vashti lowered the knife. 

“Blessed by who? Not my goddess. You wouldn’t be sitting here,” Vashti said. 

“No. I was born of a god. But he spurned me like all my siblings. I’ve spent my life trying to find him to no avail. But you….maybe we could help each other. I find my birth to be a curse but it could give you something you need. After all, I see a destiny in you,” the child said, eyes gleaming. 

“You aren’t claimed by Delana. She’s not so blunt. No. You don’t see destiny. You see opportunity. So who are you claimed by? Not Jordan. I would have recognized one of my own kind. Then it must be Oasis himself. You’re standing here after all. If you were blessed by another and loitering he would not be pleased,” Vashti worked out. 

“Yes. I am a child of Oasis. Left to fend for myself at a young age by a mother who hated me. My father never came for me. So I’m here. Usually those on this road are sympathetic. I get a trinket here and there. If I’m lucky, I get a bed for the night. What can you give me, siren?” the child demanded. 

“What makes you think I’m giving you anything?” Vashti replied. 

“You haven’t walked away yet,” the child grinned. 

“Show me your true form. I don’t like talking to this milk skinned babe,” Vashti said.

The child’s grin widened until it took over the small face. It was off putting, filled with adult teeth and much too large for the child’s build. But slowly, the form expanded. Still milky skinned and fine; long hair sprouted in dark, mossy brown, and flowed down the child’s back. The blank eyes turned green and slowly the child turned into a woman. Naked and clean of jewels or tattoos she put slim fingers on her waist and cocked her head. 

“Better?” she asked with a challenging smirk. 

Vashti racked her gaze over the white column of skin. 

“Better. But I prefer a darker tone,” she said breezily. “Now. What is your name?” 

The milk skinned woman blinked, tipped her head, and then smiled. “Aze,” she said. 

“Aze,” Vashti repeated. “So what do you have to offer me, Aze?” 

“I can create water. And change my appearance. Don’t get me wrong. You’re….stunning. But you’re also intimidating. I can do things you can’t. And honestly, I’m bored. I’m done waiting for my father to find me. It’s time to take my own steps,” Aze said. 

“What if I don’t need or want those things?” Vashti challenged. 

“Then you’re stupider than I originally thought. Who would turn down an Oasis born?” Aze asked. 

“Oasis,” Vashti said snidely. 

“Cruelty won’t hurt me,” Aze said with a smirk, “I’ve seen enough of that in my life. What I want is a change. Give me that and I promise you I will stay by your side. No matter what. I’m not asking money or trinkets. I’m asking for an adventure.” 

Vashti debated, pursing her lips. Thoughtlessly, she tweaked the ring in her belly button. “Alright,” she said finally. “I’ll give it a try. After all, I’m on my own adventure as it was. I suppose I could use the help.” 

“And you can always kill me, right?” Aze asked, tweaking the knife still in Vashti’s hand with the tip of her finger. Blood welled before she sucked it into her mouth. For a moment Vashti’s mouth watered at the welt but she turned away. 

 

“I’m on my way to my family’s vault in the Depths. Show me you can trick your way into a vault  that isn’t mine and I’ll let you come along,” Vashti said. 

Aze scoffed. “Easy,” she said. 

“We’ll see,” Vashti said and the two began walking side by side down the trail. It was the first time in her life Vashti had allowed someone to stand beside her. She found she liked it. Sneaky a glance at the demi goddess she grinned.

“You know that looks horrifying, right?”Aze said without looking over. 

“I’m counting on it,” Vashti replied. 


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aze is asked to prove herself and Vashti finds that she likes having a follower.

THE lower realms of Alyria were dug into the Earth. Each ring downward represented another class of society. The vaults were located far below the slums and it took hours on foot to each them. The lower they would travel the darker it would get and the more overpopulated the city became.  Aze had never travelled that far into the underground. She balked at the gate. 

“If this is going to scare you I’m afraid you aren’t going to cut it,” Vashti said, taking the furs offered to her to wrap around herself as they moved down towards the core of their land. 

“I’m not scared,” Aze said defensively, “I just haven’t been in the dark for that long.”

“We’ll take a cart down. It won’t take too long,” Vashti said. She wrapped Aze in a second fur and took the offered gauze skirt from the unblinking server who would drive them down to the vaults. She handed it to Aze who after a moment wrapped it around her waist. 

“Do they light the way down there?” Aze asked as they were helped into the cart. Vashti tossed the key carelessly from one hand to the other. 

“Yes. The tunnels to the vaults are closed off so those who live close by don’t get blinded by it. But we’ll be able to see,” Vashti explained. 

Aze shifted her weight and then visibly settled herself. A daughter of Oasis had no place in the lower realms but the sand siren beside her seemed unfazed and she followed the example.  She jumped when Vashti took her hand, surprised that the cruel woman who smiled lazily at her would even think to link their fingers. But then she saw why. The driver was looking at them oddly. 

“She’s my newest,” Vashti cooed. The man couldn’t miss the meaning and he flushed. “I promised her a gift but first we need some money. She has such lovely taste. I would hate to disappoint her, yes?” 

He nodded and looked back at the trail. Vashti smirked. As they spiraled downward Vashti kept Aze’s hand in her own. Occasionally she rubbed her thumb over the back of the other woman’s hand and once, when they passed a group of ogling, sickly white, women she leaned in and pressed her mouth to Aze’s neck so they gasped and looked away.

“Bad girl,” Aze whispered with a smile.

“You don’t seem to mind,” Vashti replied. 

“I like to see where it’s going,” Aze shot back. She could find the bits of her she’d hidden away answering this woman’s unabashed actions. It had been a long time since she’d allowed herself such words and she savored them. 

 

Down in the lower levels of the city the gods had no hold. No one claimed the cold and the dead, though those untouched by the gods insisted there was something waiting for them beyond. Here they had no hold on anything but the money they came for and the deeper they went, the colder it got. 

“I knew there was a reason I never came down here,” Aze said as her teeth chattered. 

“It has nothing to do with you not having money,” Vashti said snidely. 

“How do you know I don’t?” Aze shot back.

“Well you’re here and I found you in the Oasis wood so that doesn’t bode well for you. Not in Alyria, at least,” Vashti said. 

“I’m not from Alyria,” Aze said. 

Vashti looked her over with a sneer on her lips. “Clearly,” she said. 

Aze huffed but didn’t pull her fingers from Vashti’s. It was cold and the warmth of the other woman was keeping her grounded. 

“So who’s vault exactly do you want me to charm my way into?” Aze asked quietly as they slid further into the depths. When they passed into the tunnels they knew they were close. They no longer saw shadows of people scurrying by and instead were alone in the cold. 

“My father’s,” Vashti said. Aze blinked.

“Your father?” she asked.

“Each child has their own vault and my father has his own as well. I want you to break into his vault. Prove to me you’re worthwhile,” Vashti challenged.

“I’m not much of a breaking in person. I can get you in but I can’t pick locks,” Aze denied.

“Show me what you’ve got. If I’m impressed, I’ll keep you around. If not….well I can find water without you, I’m afraid,” Vashti said. 

“You really are worthy of Syria,” Aze said, curling her free hand in the furs wrapped around her. 

“Thank you,” Vashti said with more emotion than Aze had heard yet. She rolled her eyes. 

“I didn’t mean it to be nice,” Aze said.

They were nearing the largest vaults as Vashti looked over and smiled. “I know,” she said, her teeth gleaming in the lamplight. 

Aze shook her head. She couldn’t help but find Vashti charming and mysterious. Cruelty was obvious in the curve of the dark skinned woman’s mouth but it was calculating. She was smart. Clever. And blessed by the hands of the wickedest goddess in the immortal realm. It had been a long time since Aze had felt anything akin to interest in anything and she wasn’t about to let that slip away. She wouldn’t just get Vashti into her father’s vault. She’d get the woman into all of them. Smiling, she fluffed her furs. 

“You might be worthy of her but I’m worthy of my father. Trickster that he is,” she said. 

As the cart slowed and neared the family vaults, Aze noted the name. “Valeria” was carved into nearly 15 vaults down the line. Each door was carved into the stone and she shivered. Newer vaults had been built outside the walls of Alyria. Vashti’s family was old money. The type that had built the city from the bottom up. 

“Are you leaving home for good?” she asked as Vashti helped her out of the cart. The driver handed them both leather gloves. Aze pulled hers on as Vashti dropped a single jade earring into the man’s hand. He shivered at the stone, worth more than he’d ever see again, before nodding and turning around. He wouldn’t report a word they’d said. No one would ever find out who exactly had stolen from the Valeria vaults. He would make sure of it. 

“I would have to be, wouldn’t I?” Vashti asked. She headed first to her own vault, turning the key in the lock. Farther down by the start of the vaults a guard stood. Elite families kept a guard on duty at their vaults at all times. Usually only two men, they rotated and were completely loyal to the family. Vashti wouldn’t be able to bribe them. She didn’t look up at them as she turned her key in her own vaults lock. 

“Do your worst,” she breathed to Aze who straightened and nodded. 

Oasis was so much more than the god of water. He was a mirage. A hallucination for those who were lost. He stole lives as much as he saved them. No one ever said gods were kind and Oasis was nearly as bad as his nemesis, Syria. While she stole with aggression and laughter he used undertones. He was sly. He slid under the skin and made it itch until it was too late. Oasis handed all of his children something special. Not only could they change their appearance, they could change the perception of those in front of them. This ability didn’t work on blessed born or other children of gods but it would work on the guards. Aze could kill people with her abilities but now she would just confuse them. When asked who entered the vaults the guard would be 100% sure it was the family who owned them. 

When Aze blinked up at the guard who was on duty he flinched. She projected exactly who he would expect to see to him. Vashti watched from the doorway of her own vault in fascination. She could tell that the guard wasn’t seeing Aze. He stood straighter and nodded.

“Sir,” he said. 

“Hello,” Aze said, her voice warped.

“Have you forgotten your key again?” he asked.

“Yes,” Aze said, “In fact, my whole family has. Please, won’t you let us in?” 

Vashti smirked. It took a lot to impress her but Aze just had. The guard mechanically unlocked each door and nodded. 

“Now sleep my son,” Aze said, her hand passing in front of his face, “Aren’t you tired?” 

The guard slumped against the wall in sleep and Vashti laughed. “Alright. You can stay. Now help me. I thought to bring two neverending sacks but we only have so much time before someone notices. Hurry!” 

Vashti tossed Aze a bag and the pale girl nodded, rushing into the first vault, her breath catching. Gold wasn’t the only stone worth something in their world but she’d hardly seen jade or turquoise. That was hard enough to find. She dipped her hands into bowls filled with the colorful stones and nearly whimpered at the buttery feeling as her fingers touched opal. On the walls, firestone sat in hand folded chains. She held her breath as she reached for it. She’d never seen true firestone let alone touched it. 

“Come on,” Vashti said, poking her head in. “You can play with it all later.” 

Vashti had emptied her whole vault easily. She’d used the pocket of sand she always kept in her skirts to slide the jewels and coins into the bag. Now she did the same in each of her sibling’s vaults before checking in on Aze once more. The girl had left some coins and gold bowls on the table but the jewelry and pure stones were tucked into the bag. It jangled as they left. 

“We’re finished,” Vashti told the driver primly. They climbed back into the cart and he started them back up the hill, the jade sitting in his pocket. Aze peered into her bag. 

“You’re one of the founding families,” she said almost accusingly. Vashti shook her head.

“Nearly but not quite. My father never quite forgave his family for being just too late. He’s always afraid they will fall to the these lower cities because they haven’t solidified their position. Money and goods….it’s precarious up there. I find it all disgusting. A run around. The gods don’t care. I’ve met a blessed from the third layer down. She had been sent to the surface as soon as they figured it out.  Covered in filth and never having seen the sky. She was blind because of it but she was happy when she found her place. Their hypocrisy means nothing. They’ll die and no one will claim them. Only the blessed are given sanctuary. What’s the point?” Vashti said with a sneer. 

“So you stole all their money and goods?” Aze asked with a laugh. Vashti wasn’t wrong, she was just a bit more blunt than Aze was used to. 

“They don’t need it. I do. The goddess has called to me. I’m to play her game. And if I win….” Vashti smiled. Aze shivered at the baring of teeth. 

“You really need to work on that smile. It’s not very inviting,” Aze told her as they bumped up the road. 

Vashti handed Aze a pair of opal earrings that were finely carved into teardrops. “I’m not trying to be. Believe me, if I wanted to be, I could be.” 

Dark eyes met Aze’s green ones and the power in her flared once more. How had she never noticed that another blessed could make her feel so alive? Maybe because she’d run from them for so long but now she was done hiding. She grinned back, making it alluring and hot.

“Maybe you’ll show me some time,” she flirted. 

Vashti looked surprised for a breath before grinning back and shaking her head. “Prove you’re worth it,” she said.

Aze laughed more freely than she had in years and watched as they climbed back towards the surface, their loot hidden in their laps. 


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aze has a problem and Vashti realizes what she wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I messed up when I posted this and skipped a chapter so I had to adjust the last 2 I posted. Now it's right!

THE gift was alluding them. Two weeks had passed since Aze had chosen to follow Vashti and they had found nothing. Instead they stood at the entrance to the lower vaults, once more wrapped in furs. Aze sighed.

"I hate this place," she said for the third time.

"Yes. And I hate not getting what I want. Which one of us is going to win this battle?" Vashti asked, curling her fingers in the thick fur. It had been skinned from a  _ gravis  _ of the Western range, a large animal with four legs, a long tail, four eyes, and six beautiful ivory tusks. To hunt a  _ gravis  _ was a grave disservice to their goddess, Diandi unless blessed by her hand. Because of this, the furs were expensive and hard to come by. Aze hadn't missed this when Vashti had handed her one. She wondered when the other woman would stop handing her expensive trinkets to woo her. She also wondered when it would stop working. She burrowed into her own fur and sighed.

"Let's go," she said.

Since their hunt had been stalled they'd taken to casually stealing from any vault they could find. The neverending sacks were not actually never ending and Aze thought that maybe their next step should be to establish a place to stay where they could hold their things. She conveyed this thought to Vashti who looked thoughtful and then nodded.

"Very well. When we're back in the sun," she said.

Aze was proud to have offered something to Vashti that was helpful and she smiled into the fur around her neck.

"Don't let it go to your head," Vashti said, flicking inside Aze's thigh so the other woman slammed her knees shut with a yelp.

Aze scrunched up her nose at Vashti who only laughed. Vashti couldn't help but find Aze somewhat endearing.

She found it very endearing when the woman blinked up at the guard in front of the vaults and said,

"Isn't it funny how I lost my key?"

The guard blinked and shook his head. "What?" he asked dumbly.

"I've lost my key," Aze said more forcefully. Vashti cocked her head. They had done this four times already and never had anyone talked back. Something wasn't quite right. She took a step forward and waited.

"You....wait," the man shook his head more forcefully, his eyes clearing. "This isn't your vault!"

His voice was loud, booming along the tunnels. Aze flinched and Vashti stepped back.

"No, it is," Aze said, trying desperately to bring him back under.

"It isn't!" he was wild eyed. Vashti had eased back onto the cart. "It isn't! I saw this happen! They said I was crazy....I was....but I know. It isn't!"

He was blessed. He didn't know it but he was. Vashti watched in fascination as he raised his hand. He backhanded Aze across the face so the woman cried out and fell to her knees. Vashti watched with her head tipped to the side as he kicked her until she spat blood. No doubt some of her bones had broken. Even if he wanted to, Oasis could not help her here. Only Vashti could. Still, she watched. She considered her options patiently as Aze stopped crying out and fell quiet. Finally, after minutes of kicks and harsh blows to her back and head, he lifted the heavy club in his belt to deal the death blow. Vashti decided what she needed to do then and stepped down from the cart.

"No," she said easily. Aze whimpered as the guard turned to look at her.

"No? Who are you?" he asked, a bull ready to charge.

"Oh, she's hired by me. But that's neither here nor there," Vashti said.

"It....? I'll kill you too!" he raged.

"I'm afraid you aren't even going to kill her," Vashti said, truly apologetic. She hated to see power go to waste. "You see, she's rather important to me. Well, for me, rather. I can't let you kill her. And now I can't let you tell anyone who we are. Her you would forget no doubt but me? I'm hard to forget. You'd tell everyone. That's just too bad."

She always kept a sand knife on her and now she stepped close to him with that knife in her hand. The driver looked away. He wouldn't say a word. He hadn't in the weeks they'd come to him and they paid him handsomely for it.

The guard's nostrils flared. "How dare you! These belong to my masters. I won't let you pass!"

"Oh now, darling. Can't we come to a deal?" Vashti cooed. She knew he wouldn't accept it. He was too confused, too scared, and now too angry. But she needed to get close.

He shook his head again and moved to bring the club down on Aze's head. The hurt woman could only groan but Vashti caught his arm.

"I said no," she said more forcefully. Finally, he looked at her fully. As his eyes began to clear she brought the knife up and into his stomach, dragging it through his chest so it left a deep gash. He coughed, blood splattering on her face as he stumbled backwards.

"What a waste," she sighed as he fell. She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand. When he stopped breathing she turned to Aze.

"Your ribs are broken," she said, kneeling.

Aze choked on blood.

"And your nose. Probably more than that, too. Come on. We have to get you to a healer. I know a good one. He's blessed and is discreet. He'll have you fixed up in no time," Vashti said. She pulled the woman into her arms and stood. Aze couldn't breath deeply but she could curl in closer. Everything hurt but she wasn't dead. She'd expected to be. Vashti didn't seem like the sentimental type.

"I regret not stepping in before this," Aze heard Vashti murmur into her sweat soaked hair, "I won't make that mistake in the future."

Aze, comforted by the words, let her eyes drift close. She would trust Vashti to get her where she needed to go. After this she would trust Vashti to lead her anywhere.

Vashti wasn't used to caring. She didn't lay Aze in the seat next to her for the ride. She found that she couldn't let the other woman go, lest she stop breathing. She took a deep breath and prayed.

"She isn't yours and I know you hold no claim but please, don't let her die before she has a chance. This was my mistake, not hers," Vashti said softly.

It took only a moment for Syria to respond.

_ You are caring, my lovely Vashti. For that I would move the heavens. Power is beautiful but it's best with those to share it with. Power can be lonely. _

"I didn't ask for a sermon," Vashti snapped back.

_ No but you have asked for a favor. So I will say what I wish and you will hear me. I will do what I can. You need her to find your way, after all. To find me. _

Vashti felt the goddess leave her and shook her head. She looked down at Aze in her arms.

"I didn't ask for this," she muttered darkly but the words were heard only by herself.

The healer was in the outskirts of Alyria close to the entrance of the lower cities. Once they'd reached the top of the city and the sun was on their skin, Vashti pushed the blood soaked furs from Aze and hurried across the dunes. She banged on the door and waited with bated breath for it to swing open. When the healer opened it he looked at her in surprise.

"Vashti," he said and she pushed past him.

"I need you to fix her," she said. She placed the bloody girl on his table and waited next to it.

"What happened?" he asked, looking down at her bruised and bloody form.

"She was attacked. That's all you need to know," Vashti said, "And now I know she has a broken nose and at least one broken rib."

"She's bleeding inside, too. But I can fix it. You got her here in time. The hand of one of the gods has been laid on her. Sit down. This will take a while," he said.

Vashti found a seat in his cluttered home and waited. She didn't like guilt. It ate her up from the inside. She wasn't used to it. When she'd hurt her family she'd felt nothing. This, however, felt like something had curled into her stomach and was releasing acid into her limbs. She shivered even though the heat had already settled back into her bones. Hours passed and she dozed, dreams of golden hands holding her own and then being ripped away troubling her mind. It was close to midday when he shook her awake. She blinked.

"Did she make it?" she croaked.

"It's nice to see you're human," he commented mostly to himself before nodding, "Yes. She's alive. She's fine. Good as new. She's sleeping right now but I figured since you carried her here you can carry her out. Curious thing....her bones....they aren't like ours. She's blessed, isn't she? And not by Syria or Jordan."

His eyes glimmered and Vashti felt a slice of fierce anger. "I will pay you but you'll keep your hands away from her. She's mine," she snarled.

He stepped back, hands up, and chuckled. "Possessive. You can keep her. I just want....well you know what I want. I'll keep the information to myself if you help me out. It's hard to operate out of this shack. Keep me afloat, Vash, and I'll help you out."

"Don't call me that," Vashti spat but she pulled her bag from behind her and rummaged until she came to a necklace of firestone. "Break it up before you sell it. That belonged to my sister. She'll notice it's gone."

A groan from the other room signaled that Aze was waking and Vashti stood quickly, rushing across the packed sand to the woman she'd come to rely on.

"I'm.....I'm very glad you're alright," Vashti said delicately. Aze smiled weakly. There was still blood in her teeth and Vashti winced at the slash of red against the white. She resisted the urge to lift the sheet over the girl and check each place a bruise had sat.

"You didn't let him kill me," Aze said. She sounded woozy but the words were clear.

"No, I didn't," Vashti said, surprised at herself nearly as much as Aze was.

"I thought you would. I'm not worth much. You....you paid to fix me. You  _ prayed _ . I am not a prize to be won but I feel....well. Thank you," Aze said. Her eyes were wide, the green more stark as blood returned to the skin of her face. Vashti felt herself flush and shook it off almost angrily.

"Don't mention it. And don't ever tell anyone I prayed for you. I'll kill you myself if you do," she said.

Aze chuckled. "Alright. Can we go now? I'm starving."

"I don't know if your legs will carry you," Vashti said.

Aze sighed. "I don't think they will. I think I need to rest. Can you?"

She held her arms up and grinned. The tired smile was enough to disarm Vashti who rolled her eyes but picked the girl up.

"If I fall asleep on you don't take it the wrong way," Aze said on a yawn, her head lolling to the side so it rested on Vashti's shoulder.

The healer winked as she exited with Aze in her arms but she didn't react. She was having a revelation. Aze's head rolled gently as she walked. Beside her snakes hissed their greeting as she moved to the Oasis wood.

"I saved her," she told the snakes, "And now I have an idea."

As Aze slept in the reeds just kissing the sands of Alyria, Vashti planned. She knew there were many blessed who never figured out their calling or who suppressed it. Many were slaves to temples or to people who had bought them. Others had been driven from their homelands and into hiding. Their gods and goddesses never truly spoke to them and they lived a painful life unsure of what they were or if it was even worth it to be alive. If she could liberate them, not only would there be more worthy creatures on the surface, she could build an army. Aze would stay with her now, she knew it. She'd saved the young woman from a terrible fate and devotion had built between them. If she could do the same for more of them, maybe they would follow her too. She was impressed by Aze and held no illusions that not many of those she found would be as fascinating but that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want friends. She wanted an army.

She left fruits by Aze's head and then moved out into the sand to pray.

"You helped her," she said, her fingers trailing slowly between her breasts, following the lines of the prayers she'd inked into her skin.

_ I did what you asked, dearest Vashti. She will not stray. _

"You did this for you, too. A child of Oasis. Not just blessed but born of him. Following one of yours. Don't pretend," Vashti replied.

_ Oh I shan't. I got something out of this too. But in return....Continue with your plan, you clever thing. If you can do what you wish.....if you can give me not just Aze born of Oasis but many more.....you will rule not just this city but the world. _

"Promise me. Promise me I will rule if I do this," Vashti hissed. The marks on her body flared as she slid her fingers down to her hips.

_ I promise you. If you do this, if it works, you will rule everything. _

Vashti felt the goddess go just as she heard Aze roll over with a snort. She turned to see a slim, pale, arm flop out of the reeds.

"My body hurts," Aze whined. Vashti stood and walked closer, a snake curling about her ankle.

"That's what happens when someone nearly beats you to death," Vashti breezed. She sat beside Aze and let the snake slide up around her neck.

"I still can't believe you stepped in. I....well I just didn't think you would," Aze admitted.

"Neither did I. But I made a rather large mistake in letting him strike you even once," Vashti said, "You are worth more than a vault robber. You, my dear sea siren, are the key to my success. You might not have been the gift left for me but you are one nonetheless. Now eat. I have a plan to uphold," Vashti said, her lips quirked up in an evil smirk.

Aze shivered at the look and took the fruits. Biting into one she let its red juices run down her chin. Vashti watched, a different hunger in her eyes and through it, Aze pretended not to see. 


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vashti talks to Syria about Aze.

THE three suns were nearly in line for the nightly eclipse when they made it back to the edge of the Oasis wood. Vashti balked at the entrance. 

“I can’t stay in there,” she said with a shake of her head, “I won’t feel protected.” 

“Big, bad siren can’t go into the woods?” Aze teased. 

“I’m not stupid,” Vashti snorted. “If something were to attack me I would be condemned for reacting. I won’t put myself in that position.”

“Well,  _ Vashti,”  _ Aze said, using the name she’d seen on the vault, “How about you sleep right out here and I’ll be right past the trees? That way you’re still on your own ground.” 

Vashti looked over Aze and finally nodded. “Fine. But just know we won’t always be by an Oasis for you to hide in.” 

“I’m well aware,” Aze chuckled. “But I’d like to have one more day of comfort before I uproot my life for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do this,” Vashti said. She wasn’t defensive, just honest and Aze smiled at her. Vashti would be loathe to admit it but she found the girl attractive and couldn’t help but smile back. It was new to her, liking a person for more than a few seconds. 

“No, but I’ve decided I want to see where this goes. So even if you didn’t ask, I’m dropping my usual life for you. It wasn’t very nice or anything so it’s not like I’m giving up much but still. It’s something,” Aze said. 

Vashti let out a long suffering sigh. “Fine,” she said, looking up into the dull evening sky, “Just don’t expect me to be grateful.”

She turned and pulled a long, soft, leathery rug out of the bag she carried and laid it out. Aze watched and muttered to herself, “No, I wouldn’t expect that.” Before turning into the wood. 

 

She didn’t make herself known as she settled into the soft grass but she watched Vashti. The woman unhooked the skirt wrapped around her and let it pool around her waist as she pulled the studs out from above her eyebrows. She then moved to the ring in her nose and the one in her lip. Methodically, she removed the jewelry from her face before sighing and releasing her braids so the smaller, tightly wound ones fell to her shoulders. She dumped the knife onto the sand and Aze watched as it melted back into small, golden, grains. Vashti rolled onto her knees and looked up into the single sun. She began to murmur her prayers, her fingers tracing them as they’d been marked on her skin. 

“I’m coming, Syria,” she said at the end.

Aze raised her eyebrows at the words. She’d never spoken to her father the way Vashti spoke to Syria but she’d also never had a relationship like the one it seemed Vashti had with her goddess. 

“Is she the gift you left me?” Aze heard Vashti ask as she turned to rest. She stilled and listened harder. “She is impressive if that’s true but I don’t know how you did it. Children of Oasis tend not to stray.” 

Aze warmed at the praise but dared not breathe, just in case.  She didn’t move even though she wished to see Vashti’s face. She couldn’t hear if the goddess was responding but she didn’t think she was a gift meant for Vashti. If she was, she was more of a tool for the gods than she thought. 

“Don’t toy with me,” Vashti said after a moment, making Aze think that the goddess had indeed responded. “I don’t need a partner. I’m not in this for that kind of prize. I want to rule. And besides, my heart is not a prize to be won. Even if I do wonder what Oasis would think if I took his child from his grasp.” 

Aze flushed. She didn’t want to be a prize either but knowing that the goddess thought she could be a good match….well it was enticing. Vashti herself was enticing. Such raw power in such an unforgiving body  was something she didn’t know she could be drawn to. She didn’t even know if the other woman would be interested. It didn’t seem like she had the capacity for it but Aze could be hopeful. Even if she would never say it. 

“Well then I’ll find your gift later,” Vashti said, “But this was a pleasant surprise. Now let me sleep. I’d like to be fresh in the morning.” 

Aze took that to mean that the conversation was over and she laid down softly. She didn’t see Vashti look over at the trees before laying out, staring up at the sky. Vashti sighed deeply. Night was her time to talk to the goddess. She used to go to the temple and speak with the other blessed at this time but now she was outside her home gates. Tomorrow she would enter the city and find the true gift that was waiting for her. She would no longer be Vashti Valeria. It would take a little time but it would get around that she was no longer in her family estate and she would no longer be able to rely on that to get her places. She had spoken to Syria but as usual the goddess hadn’t been much help. She’d laughed at the idea that she’d left Aze for Vashti.

_ I couldn’t predict that. But Oasis will be unhappy.  _ She’d said with glee. 

When Vashti had said how impressive the girl was, Syria had perked up.  _ A prize, then. Not my gift but one you can take.  _

 

Vashti snorted at the thought. She had never felt that sort of attraction to anyone. Aze was powerful, that was true, but she was naive. Very young in her actions and choices. Vashti needed power and ambition. She shook her head. 

“Don’t even think about it,” she muttered to herself. This would be a tactic to stop her from playing the game to her fullest potential. She’d heard of other blessed being asked to play with the gods. They were always tricked into something before they made it to the end. Vashti wouldn’t be like that. She promised herself she would make it as far as she could. If she didn’t make it, it would be because she wasn’t worthy, not because something had distracted her. 

She rolled over one final time and let herself fall into sleep. She was sure that in the morning everything would be clearer. 

 

SHE woke when the three suns had lined up along the sky.  She groaned and flopped her arms out into the sand around her. 

“That’s attractive,” Aze said and Vashti tipped her head back to see the woman looking down at her, hands on her hips. She had a dress that covered her breasts flowing down and around her knees and she grinned down at Vashti. 

“Why are you covering up?” Vashti asked on a yawn. 

“Because I have skin that turns red if I don’t. Not everyone can have such a beautifully dark complexion,” Aze said, kicking sand onto Vashti’s arm. 

Vashti rolled her eyes. “Flattery doesn’t work on me,” she said but Aze could see the pleasure in her eyes. Knowing that Vashti would even consider her a gift from her goddess gave Aze the strength to poke fun. 

“Sure it doesn’t,” Aze grinned. “Now get up. I’m pretty sure we have a quest to finish. Do you get the next step after you finish the first one?”

Vashti sat up and for the first time Aze noticed two shimmering opals imbedded in her hips. She wondered who had adorned Vashti’s body so beautifully. The woman didn’t seem like she’d let anyone close enough. 

“I doubt it. This isn’t a scavenger hunt. It’s a battle. A game a goddess plays because she’s bored,” Vashti said, not noticing Aze’s gaze. She stretched, the morning light glittering off the gold hoops in her breasts. Aze shook her head to clear it. 

“So why are you playing?” she asked. 

Vashti grinned. She pulled her different earrings out of the sand and began the methodical motions of putting them back into her face. “Because the end result, if I get there, is worth it.” 

“How do you know?” Aze asked. Her father had never offered her a game. She didn’t know what could possibly be worth turning away from a high blood family that feared you. 

“Syria wouldn’t lie to me. If I make it to the end I get to rule. That’s worth all of this,” Vashti said. She stood and pulled a different skirt from her bag and tied it around her waist. The bright blue color stood in contrast to her skin and she flipped her palm up so the sand made a small table at her face level. She lifted a compact mirror until it balanced on the sand table. She lined her eyes with precision. 

Aze cocked her head. “I’ve never seen so much jewelry on one person before. Is that something you almost founding families do more of?”

Vashti twisted her face in the mirror and pursed her lips. “Yes and no. I do more than most but we also rely on being adorned. It shows wealth to have all those stones on you.” 

“And you love to be seen,” Aze said with a quirk of her lips. 

“Hush, naughty. I’ve cut out people’s tongues for less,” Vashti said but it was tempered by her small smile. She handed Aze the stick of kohl liner as she painted her lips in melted opal. The sheen of silvery blue and green stood stark against her skin. After a moment of hesitation, Aze lowered herself to her knees. She’d never lined her eyes and brought the line to her eye a few times before Vashti sighed. 

“Let me. Makeup is a mask of war just as my piercings and prayers are. To fight with me you have to wear armor. I’ll give it time, water born, but don’t think I won’t ask this of you as time goes on,” she said. 

Aze sat still as Vashti drew thick lines along her eyes. She’d seen women with makeup before. Even men who wore it to show status. But she had never been enough for that. When Vashti turned the mirror to show her, she gasped. 

“Lovely. You look like a god born. Now come along. We have a gift to find,” Vashti said. 


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elvad comes into the story. Aze and Vashti recruit him to their cause. The story earns its E rating.

ELVAD had been sold to Alyria. He hated it. He’d travelled in an open cart for many miles, icy chains kept cold about his wrists to seep his energy until they got there. He hated the contract he’d signed and he hated the young man with icy blue eyes who watched him as they drove. He promised himself he’d kill that boy when the time came. 

But the time never came. They were clever. They locked him in ice at night and during the day he was so consumed by his work that he didn’t think to run. They kept him just strong enough and when he looked willing to fight, they showed him his contract. 

“You don’t want us to take her too, do you?” the icy eyed boy asked once, no note of emotion in his voice. Elvad wondered when they had broken him. 

He thought of his sister. Free in the volcanoes of Jordan in the city of Latva. She was the most powerful sun siren born to their home and he’d sold himself to keep her safe. He had 50 more years to serve in the hopes she would get the chance to leave. Standing in the flames of the blacksmith, he beat his 100th sword into submission, anger in his veins. He was always angry. It matched the fire in his blood.

 

That was where he saw her. She was pale but with eyes so green they seemed like a forest in themselves. She wore a dress that thinly covered her chest down to her toes and though her wild, light brown mane was in elaborate braids, bits of hair stuck out. He paused to watch her. She was blessed born, he could feel it. But children of Oasis tried to stay away from cities, especially those cities dedicated mostly to the gods of heat and war. He cocked his head, his own golden hair flowing with the flames around him. 

“We are in need of weapons,” she said, her fine fingers curled around a pouch, “And we’re willing to pay finely for them. If you have what we’re searching for.” 

The icy eyed boy stayed behind the counter as their master, a large dark skinned man with many self inflicted scars, sneered and stepped in front of her. She didn’t flinch.

“A pretty thing like you? So small? What could you possibly know of weapons. Let me sell you a sickle knife, little thing. I’ll teach you to use it,” he breathed close to her face and still she didn’t step back. Elvad stopped working. The icy eyed boy tracked the woman’s movement as she stepped around the man. 

“I wasn’t talking to you,” she said, “I was talking to him.” 

She pointed to the boy. Their master’s lips broke into a nasty frown. Elvad found himself interested in what this small creature could do. She was too confident to not have something up her sleeve.

“He works for me,” their master snarled. 

“But shouldn’t it be the other way around?” she reached out to cup the boy’s chin. He flinched. It was the first time Elvad had seen him move without deliberate thought. He stopped and stared. “Your….’property’ is powerful. So much more so than you. What have you done to them to keep them here? They should be ruling you. Shouldn’t you, you lovely thing?” she cooed at the boy. He blinked but didn’t move. 

“He’s ruined you,” she decided after a pause, a small frown playing over her face. “That’s too bad. She so would have loved to free you. I’ve seen what I need to see. Never mind. We won’t be using you after all.”

She stepped back and for a moment her eyes caught Elvad’s. He didn’t breath and she winked before turning back to his master. “You will fall,” she said almost gleefully, “And I will love watching. Good day.”

He reached for her as she turned to go, anger in his eyes, but she spun easily away from his reaching hands. 

“Don’t touch things that aren’t yours,” she called back through the door as she marched away. Elvad found himself, for the first time since his contract was signed, wondering what the next day would bring. With a heavy swing, he beat the sword into shape wondering if maybe he’d get to use it soon. 

  
  


AZE found her way back to Vashti who was building a small house on the outside of Alyria. She was compacting sand to make walls and half a roof when Aze returned. 

“Well?” she said without turning around.

“I went to each blacksmith in the city. Only one has any blessed working for him. One is too far gone but the other….you’ll like him I think,” Aze said. 

It was their third day trying to find other blessed in the city. So far they’d started with businesses. A jeweler with a sun siren daughter. A builder with a team of sand siren workers. And now the blacksmith. There had been more but the  problem with most had been that they were paying their workers fairly. There was nothing to save them from. They were happy. They didn’t want to be free. The others were too far gone to save. They had been slaves for most of their lives and couldn’t fathom a life outside of it. Some were crippled; bars beaten through their legs to keep them from running. Vashti herself had been somewhat dreading going into the lower layers of the city but she knew that down there she would find more. 

“Is he paying them?” Vashti asked as she finished the partial roof of the small house. She’d put in the roof for Aze so the woman could be comfortable outside of the sun. 

“I don’t think so. Not from the way they acted. I think he beat the ice one into submission. It’s sad. He’s just a boy. The sun siren though….he’s beautiful. And he’s so full of anger,” Aze said greedily. 

“He’s attractive, isn’t he?” Vashti asked, throwing a smirk over her shoulder. 

Aze blushed, her hair flushing blonde before going back to brown. “How do you know?” Aze asked. 

“Just the way you’re speaking,” Vashti said smugly, “And I guessed.” 

“Well he is. He’s stunning,” Aze said defiantly. She lifted her chin so Vashti chuckled. 

“Then I’m sure I’ll appreciate it all the more. And the ice child?” she asked. 

Aze shook her head and came to stand beside Vashti. “He’s too far gone. I’m afraid we’ll have to kill him. He might fight for the master. Nasty man. He tried to proposition me.” 

Vashti felt her possession flare in her chest and turned fully to Aze. “Did he?” 

Aze grinned. “Don’t worry. I didn’t take him up on him.” 

“Why would I worry?” Vashti said, slamming the stones down onto the roof with more force than was necessary. 

“No reason,” Aze said, rolling her eyes. “But just so you know. I said no. And you can kill him if you want to, tomorrow.” 

“Well thank you for the opportunity,” Vashti said sarcastically, “I’ll consider it.” 

“Stop being rude,” Aze said easily. She was no longer scared of Vashti. She thought she understood the other woman. Cruelty might have been brewed into her blood but she was still human. “I’m just saying. He’d deserve it.” 

“They all deserve it,” Vashti said sourly but she went back to building a little more gently. 

 

“Now now,” Aze said soothingly, “Not everyone.” 

“Fine. Most,” Vashti said, her voice prickly. Against all natural instinct, Aze wanted to hug her. She knew she was meant to run from those born of Syria. She was meant to cower and fall. Maybe she would kneel  but it would be because she chose to, not out of fear. As Vashti finished, Aze stepped in front of her.

“You’re in the way,” Vashti said but she wasn’t really complaining.

“You’re finished,” Aze said with a small smile. It was a secret smile. The kind that meant she knew something someone else didn’t. Usually when she smiled like that it was right before she changed her face or caused someone to forget her at all but now it was for something else. 

“What if I wasn’t?” Vashti demanded. It was for show. They both knew it. Aze didn’t answer. Instead,  she sunk to her knees, her fingers wrapping around Vashti’s. Vashti looked surprised. 

“I will kneel for you. Not out of fear. Not out of hatred. But out of strength and devotion. You saved me. In more ways that one. And I know you don’t care, it’s just another tally mark to you but to me it’s more than that. So I will serve you. I will kneel if and when you ask. And when you finish this and take your prize all I want is to still be standing here. Even if more pretty men and women catch your eye,” Aze said. 

Vashti blinked back her confusion. “No one catches my eye,” she blurted defensively. 

“Of course they don’t,” Aze said fondly, “I won’t ask for you to promise. I just have hope. I might not be the prize of a goddess but you paid to save me. That’s all I need to know.” 

Vashti didn’t pull her hand back. “I can promise that,” she said. This time it was Aze’s turn to look surprised. 

“I’ve never….had a….person…..like you in my life. I can promise you that whatever my prize turns out to be, you and I will share it. You’re my first. The first who followed me. I won’t forget that,” Vashti said gravely. 

Honor. It was something Vashti held tightly to when it suited her. She didn’t know what it was like to honor family but she could feel the fierce devotion to Aze in her skin. She would keep the other woman by her side  no matter what came their way. 

“I don’t….” Aze started but then she shook her head and grinned ruefully up at Vashti before standing. “Never mind, it’s not time for that.” 

Vashti looked into the face of the first friend she’d ever had and she nodded. Whatever it was, she too could feel like it wasn’t time yet. 

“I’m finished,” Vashti said needlessly. 

“It looks good,” Aze said, her hands on her hips. 

“The back part is for you. So you don’t burn,” Vashti said, a frown tempering the kind words. 

 

“Thank you. I appreciate it. Did you give me a tree?” Aze asked, craning her neck to see into the space.

“It was already there,” Vashti said defensively. 

Aze smiled and tapped Vashti’s arm in thanks. She didn’t think the other woman would accept a hug. “Can I go in?”

Vashti gestured and Aze stepped into the small house. She hadn’t lived in a home since her mother had kicked her out when she’d turned 7. She sighed. She knew Vashti wouldn’t understand. Not all cities were like Alyria and the traveling tribes of Oasis didn’t live in such an obviously socially structured city but it didn’t mean there weren’t those with less. Aze’s mother had been one of those. She’d lain with a god who had tricked her and she despised the child born of the union. When Aze was just a child she’d been expelled but they hadn’t had much before that. A home was more than Aze would have thought to ask for. And Vashti had built it around a small piece of the Oasis wood. Aze knew she couldn’t thank the woman. Not properly. So instead she sunk down at the base of the tree and created a pool of water to dip her toes in. Vashti followed her inside after a moment and pulled her skirt up to nestle back into the sand. Aze winced as the grains climbed between Vashti’s thighs but the woman didn’t seem upset. She sighed deeply in contentment. 

“Don’t you miss your rich home?” Aze asked.

“No,” Vashti said, her eyes closed and her fingers itching at her scalp. 

“Want to elaborate on that?” Aze asked, amused. 

“It was just a house. I could make a house just as grand. Halls made of firestone and marble. Rooms cooled by the winds in just the right spots. It was just things. Just the power people believe they have when money is involved,” Vashti said. 

“You have a lot of money for someone who doesn’t care about it. Most of which I helped you steal, so how about you try that again?” Aze said, flicking water across the space. Vashti quirked her lips before answering.

“Money buys power. Money controls this world. So yes, I take it. But I don’t need it. I would burn it all if I could. Money shouldn’t equal power. You know that. Power should equal power. Why do boring, human, men run the world? You and I could kill them in the blink of an eye and their souls would go nowhere but into the ground. They weren’t even worthy of an afterlife. So why? Because of money. An illusion of power. I want to shatter that. But to get there we need money. So round and round we go. And when we don’t need it anymore I’ll simply spill it into the sand. Or wear it. I do like things that shine,” Vashti explained. 

Aze leaned forward and let the top of her dress slip down to her waist in the cool air of the shade. 

“You really do believe we deserve to run this city,” she said. 

 

“I believe we deserve to run this whole plane. Your mother….she kicked you out. Not because she hated you but because  she was scared. It’s common. Blessed or true born children that die in the sands or simply become vagrants because they’re expelled. If my parents could have they would have done that to me. Or worse. They wanted to sell me to a temple. To be a whore for men who want ‘favors’ from a goddess who hates them. We….all of the blessed and true born….are the ones who should inherit this world. But instead we are forced to hide behind temples and prayers and demure glances or else they’ll overwhelm us. We will fix that. And we will rule this world. Not just Alyria, all of it,” Vashti said as if it was simple. 

Aze couldn’t help but gape. Vashti could say something so radical as if it was the easiest thing in the world. They wouldn’t be the first ones to try. Many blessed or true born had fought to gain control of a single city only to fall under the hands of the blessed from the temples and the people who supported them. Yet Vashti seemed convinced she could do this. That they could. 

“You seem so sure. I wish I was so sure of anything,” Aze commented. 

“Be sure of me,” Vashti said easily. She had sprawled out in the sun and was lazily walking grains of sand across her naked stomach. Aze dared to lean forward and trace a line across the other woman’s hip where the gold prayers were tattooed. Vashti jumped but then settled back, allowing the touch. 

“They’re gorgeous,” Aze said. “They don’t look like any prayers I’ve ever seen but that’s what they are, right?” 

“They are in a way. They’re my own prayers. They aren’t words. When I was a child I felt her hands on me and this was their path. So I marked it. She laughed at me once. Told me it wasn’t anything important, simply how she’d picked me up into her arms but I could feel it in my skin and even without them I followed that path. So I put it on my skin. To remind myself and everyone that I was pledged to something else,” Vashti said, rolling so Aze’s hands could continue to follow the trail of markings. 

Aze marveled at them. They went from white to gold flawlessly on Vashti’s dark mocha skin. She had seen them for weeks and now she could touch them. It was in reverence that she let the prayers of another touch her deep in her soul. Vashti hummed when she reached the end of the marks. “Feels good,” she admitted. 

So Aze followed the markings back to Vashti’s hips and then up to her stomach. She paused at the base of Vashti’s breasts. She knew those in Alyria bared their skin more and it wasn’t uncommon for their bodies to be adorned in that area but her culture simply didn’t show them as much. She wasn’t sure where the line was. When she looked up, Vashti was looking at her, her eyes dark. 

“It’s alright,” she said huskily.

“Why?” Aze asked, daring to push. 

Vashti’s head fell back. “I don’t know. It just is.”

 

Aze knew in that moment that Vashti would never say the words many craved. She would never admit to anything. She might not even know what it was or what to call it. But she would feel it and that was what Aze cared about. Vashti could burn the world down but as long as Aze was beside her, she didn’t care. Maybe Vashti was right. Maybe they did deserve the whole world but all she knew was that right now she deserved the woman laid out in front of her. She leaned down and gently licked from where her fingers had stopped up the center of Vashti’s breasts so the woman’s breath hitched. 

“Relax,” Aze chuckled, “I won’t hurt you.”

_ She’s called me without knowing it. Look at you. My darling Vashti, you are beautiful. I’d consider taking you myself but it seems she has you. For now…..  _ Vashti gasped at the goddess’ chuckle in her mind and Aze’s cool tongue on her body. 

“You couldn’t,” she said but she didn’t know which one she was speaking to.

“You like to think that,” Aze said. She pulled herself over Vashti so she was a shadow cast across the sand, “But I’m a weapon too. Don’t forget.” 

Vashti grinned lazily. She brought her hand up between them and traced along Aze’s cheek and down her chin. “Show me,” she challenged. 

Aze grinned back. “You sure?” she asked, letting her hips sink so her thighs pushed between Vashti’s. 

Vashti pushed her own knees up so they cradled Aze’s body. “Am I ever unsure?” 

Aze nipped at Vashti’s fingers before turning her eyes blue and licking her lips. “Let’s go, then,” she said. 

First the waters came. Vashti watched in near awe as winds tore at the inside of their structure and rains soaked through their thin clothes. Aze nosed at Vashti’s throat, licking the droplets of rain as they ran down the other woman’s salty skin. 

“More?” she purred. 

“I didn’t even notice anything,” Vashti said. She was proud that her breath hadn’t caught as Aze’s teeth grazed her skin. 

“Liar,” Aze breathed into Vashti’s ear. Vashti suppressed her shiver and Aze rested her full weight on the woman below her. She grinned widely and then the winds tore around them, a small tube of air forming and spinning around the room. Vashti opened her mouth but Aze covered it with her own, that same cool tongue that had called her goddess invading her own mouth before pulling back forcefully. Aze flicked her fingernail roughly against the ring in Vashti’s right breast and said, “I wasn’t done. Don’t interrupt.” 

When lightning erupted around them Vashti’s body tightened at the sheer force. She had never seen the true powers of Oasis and it was enough to make another woman tremble. Another woman but not her. She arched up into the movement and began to roll her hips with the pattern of the rain. 

 

“More,” Vashti ordered, her eyes bright. She’d never felt this alive with another person. It was thrilling and she rode the high the pelting rains gave her. When Aze’s eyes met her own the rain turned to sleet and Vashti growled, locking her ankles around the woman’s back to yank her closer. Aze groaned and bit Vashti’s shoulder hard. Neither cared that blood seeped from the wound. When Aze pulled back once more to look into Vashti’s face she mindlessly licked the blood from her lip and Vashti gasped wildly. The air around them exploded in water and lightning, thunder rumbling in their ears but it didn’t matter anymore. Aze’s hand was sliding down Vashti’s stomach and the sand siren was moaning so the dunes around them rippled with each exhale. 

It was mindless. It was power. It was two gods coming together for the first time. And when it was finished there were many more tiny marks bleeding on each woman’s body in intricate trails. Aze finally mustered enough energy to huff out a laugh. 

“If I had known it was going to be like that I would have challenged you earlier,” she commented. 

Vashti rolled onto her stomach so the wet sand below them stuck to her skin. She smiled lazily, feeling more like her snake friends in the high heat of the day than she ever had before. Contentment sung in her bones and something in her whispered that maybe this partner thing wasn’t so bad. She shooed that thought away but didn’t drop her grin. 

“We’ll rule the world,” she said. 

Aze laughed more fully. “Yes,” she said, “We will.” 

When Aze laid her head on Vashti’s stomach Vashti took a deep breath and released it slowly. 

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s fine,” Aze said assuredly, “But you do have to promise we can do that again. I’ve never let go like that before.” 

Vashti walked her fingertips over Aze’s back, digging her nail into a bite mark that was spotting blood. Aze hissed.

“Next time I’ll show you power,” she said in lieu of a promise. Aze only smiled and yawned. 

“Good. But not now. I’m exhausted. And we have a sun siren to liberate tomorrow.” 

Vashti didn’t say anything but she didn’t push Aze away and that was enough. For Aze that would always be enough. 

 

THEY  had fallen asleep early and so they rose early, before the three suns lined fully in the sky. Aze shrugged her dress on and Vashti appraised it, running her fingertips under the straps before nodding and dressing herself. Aze let her draw the eyeliner across her lid and tolerated the muttering that she’d have to learn to do it herself eventually. She was happy to find that it didn’t feel like much had changed. She’d been with Vashti for nearly a month and their physical closeness hadn’t changed their normal interactions. When they started into the city, Vashti walked just a step ahead and Aze let her. She pointed out the blacksmith’s and then stepped back, ready to watch Vashti work. 

 

Vashti strolled into the building and began to admire the swords and other weapons on the walls. It was only a short moment before the master stepped out to speak to her, a large smile on his face. Aze stayed hidden and watched. The young boy with the icy eyes was methodically cleaning a blade and the sun siren was standing outside the fires, banging on a cooling sword.

“How can I help you?” the master asked. 

“My partner was in here yesterday and told me there was something I’d be interested in. It seems she was right,” Vashti said, looking the man up and down. It was easy to believe her cruel curl of her lip was out of want and the man leaned closer. 

“Oh really?” he asked. 

Vashti’s eyes went to the golden man by the flames. Aze hadn’t been exaggerating. He was stunning. 

“Yes,” she said, “How much for your worker?” 

She wanted to kill the master but she would give him the chance to offer her prize freely. He snorted. 

“He’s not for sale,” he chuckled. 

“He works here doesn’t he? Can’t he just leave?” she asked. She knew some blessed weren’t paid but instead were trapped by master’s who manipulated or abused them into submission. It was clear the icy eyed boy was long gone but something in the muscled back of the sun siren showed he was still alive. Still filled with anger. “I would offer him all the riches in the world.” 

The master’s nostrils flared. “No,” he snapped, “He can’t just leave. He has a contract. And as for all the riches, maybe you could offer those to me. I don’t want gold or turquoise.” 

His leer turned to shock when a whip of sand cut a gash in his side. He stumbled and his workers stilled. Vashti held a gold base in her hand and the whip, a shining line of sand, fell to the ground once it had cut him, the grains showering back to their brothers. 

“I don’t appreciate that type of talk,” Vashti said coldly. She tightened her hand around the base  and whipped, the sand once more in the shape of a whip. Aze stepped into the master’s sights just as the sand whipped once more, this time along the large man’s face. Grains stayed in the cut and he growled, going to lunge for them when Elvad caught his hand. His eyes blazed with flames as he held back his master’s fist.

“I can take care of myself but if you’d like to end him I won’t take that from you,” Vashti said lazily, picking sand from under her nails with the base of the whip in her hand. It was clearly expensive but she used it carelessly. She’d had it in her possession for quite a long time. 

“Rysel!” the master cried and the young boy snapped to attention but it was too late. Sand snaked up the boy’s ankles and along his legs until he was caught in a pillar. He didn’t whimper or cry out, he simply stayed put and the master began to struggle in earnest.

 

“Well?” Vashti asked, gesturing for Elvad to either do the deed or let her. He grinned and took the sword from the wall beside him.

“Consider my contract void,” he growled into the master’s ear before sliding the blade through his stomach and upward. The man coughed blood up before falling dead to the ground and Vashti turned to Elvad with interest. He had pierced the man’s heart. 

“You aren’t from Alyria. Your accent is beautiful,” she said. 

“I find yours rough and garish,” he said back. 

“Pity,” she said, “Most men find it alluring.” Aze rolled her eyes and walked up to the icy eyed boy, allowing Vashti this privacy. She gently covered his mouth with her hand and, giving him a face of the person he loved most, she poured water down his lungs until he stilled, drowned on dry land. 

“Most men do not. They must just find you alluring,” Elvad said with an inclination of his head. 

“What’s your name?” she asked, charmed despite herself. 

“Elvad. And you?” he asked. His eyes flitted to Aze who was lowering the dead boy to the ground.

“That’s Aze. I’m Vashti. We’ve come to take you away. If you so wish it,” she said. 

“Take me where? I’m done being forced to serve,” he said. 

“Not forced. Your contract is officially void. I’ll make sure of it. But I have an offer for you. If you’d like to come with us, I’ll tell you. You can decide from there,” Vashti explained. 

He observed the two women, Aze drifting back towards them. 

“I did it nicely,” she said to Vashti, “He saw the person he loved most. I don’t know who it was but he got to see them one more time.” 

Vashti nodded. “Good. A slave is not at fault for its master’s pain.”

Elvad once again ran his gaze over Vashti. Her markings and piercings. Her dark, intelligent eyes. He was interested in what she had to say.

“Alright. I’ll come,” he said gruffly. 

“Good. But first….” Vashti brought up a wall of sand that pushed him back into the flames. She wanted to see his power. She wanted to know it was there and not a trick. He stumbled back and didn’t burn, only looked at her in surprise. 

“Did you just try to kill me?” he asked.

“I meant to test you. You’ve passed,” she said with a shrug. Aze rolled her eyes and sighed. 

“You could’ve just asked. I saw him in the flames before,” she said. 

“I needed to see for myself. Now that I have, would you like a real job?” Vashti asked, holding out her hand to Elvad who, after a moment’s hesitation, took it. Her own hand was warm in the flames and he grinned.

“You’re a sand siren. Blessed by Syria,” he said.

 

“I am,” Vashti agreed. And it was with a smile that he smashed his forehead into her nose. Blood gushed and she gasped in surprise while Aze jumped forward, water forming in a ball around his head. His eyes widened as he began to choke. Vashti chuckled and tenderly touched her broken nose.

“Lovely,” she mumbled through the blood in her teeth, “You’ve got the job. If you want it. Aze, let him go. It’s alright.” 

Aze dropped the water, anger blazing in her eyes. She stepped up to the taller man’s chest and growled, “Don’t you touch her again.”

He looked down at her with a crooked smile. “Spitfire,” he drawled, “Someday she’ll be begging me to.” 

Aze fumed but stopped when Vashti cleared her throat. “Remember what I told you,” she said softly. Aze took a deep breath and stepped back, her eyes going to her partner. 

“Only if she asks, fire bringer. If not, I’ll kill you.” 

He grinned as Vashti knocked her own nose back into place with a wince. “We should go,” she said, “He might get a customer and we don’t want to be here when they show up.” 

“Lead the way,” Elvad said, looking down at his shackle free arms. It was the first time he’d seen his arms clear in three years and he flexed in appreciation. When Vashti led them out into the sun he watched her hips swing with his lips quirked. Aze glared but he didn’t pay her any mind. 

“Wait,” he said before they turned to go down the street, “My contract. If someone comes in….they’ll find it. Assume I killed him. We need to take it.” 

“Haven’t people seen you there?” Aze asked. 

“Yes, but if it looks like I’ve been sold….it looks like you’re going to have to treat me like a slave for the moment at least,” Elvad said.

Vashti looked him over and with a leer, said, “Gladly.” 

He snorted at her but they turned back into the blacksmith’s. They found the contract in the back room. It seemed he had more lined up for other places across Alyria and its neighboring countries. When they found one for a Tirion in Latva, Elvad saw red.

“My contract was to keep my sister safe,” he fumed, “He lied!”

“Your sister?” Vashti asked. 

“My sister is powerful. More so than me. And in our country we hide in the volcanoes. But they found us and they roped us as they do those like us. They sell us to high paying store owners to work as slaves under contracts. Most of us sign them to protect someone. I signed them to protect Tirion. But that’s her. They’ve caught her. They lied,” he spat bitterly. 

“In Latva they lock your kind up?” Vashti asked, anger flashing in her eyes. Aze already knew where this was going. Mentally, she said goodbye to the house she’d already begun to love. 

“As many as they can find. They ship in those ice children. They’re from the outer limits. The place with no name. They’re hunted as babies and taken and controlled. They’re terrible but from no fault of their own. Still, they lock us in ice boxes and chains and use us to their own gain,” Elvad explained. 

“And your god does nothing?” Aze asked. She was used to Oasis and his lack of help but she’d thought that maybe Jordan would have more compassion. 

“He chooses some, sometimes. But he doesn’t help us all. He can’t. Not without a war of the gods beginning,” Elvad said, “The ice lord, he is the only one who can harm Jordan so he keeps his distance from them.” 

“We will free them. We’ll go to Latva. We’ll break their chains. And then, if they so wish, they can join us. Your sister, you, all of those like you. I’ll offer them this chance to rise up. If you’ll lead the way I promise you, you will all have the choice to stay or to go where you wish. But if you come with me….when I take over this world Latva will be just for you. For your kind and your god,” Vashti said. 

“Who are you to promise my people a city of their own?” Elvad demanded. 

Vashti smiled. “I am Vashti of the family Valeria and born blessed by Syria of the Sand. I am following her directions to rule this world and I will promise only what I know I can give. If you help me and if your people stand with me, they will be rewarded.” 

Elvad looked her over, this time taking in her stance and confidence. 

“Alright. Prove to me you can free them and I’ll stay with you,” he said. 

She scoffed. “Easy. Let’s go. We have to pack and I have to pray. Then we should be on our way.” 

 


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aze and Elvad talk about Vashti. Vashti talks about her plans for the future and reminds them that they are all powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for giving this story a chance. I'm glad it's getting read at all and that (hopefully) you're enjoying it!

ELVAD sat with Aze and watched as Vashti curled her hands along her body and trailed her fingertips on her skin in prayer. 

“She’s something else,” he said. 

Aze frowned as she replied. “She is.” 

“Relax, spitfire,” he said with a grin, “You don’t need to piss on her or anything. I know she’s yours.” 

“She isn’t mine. That’s the problem with men like you. You think everything is owned. She isn’t mine. She’s her own. What she wants to give she can and I will take it gladly. But I don’t expect you to get that,” she snapped back. 

“Then if she gives some of it to me, you won’t be upset,” he said. 

Aze frowned more deeply. “No. I suppose I wouldn’t be.” 

“Liar,” he laughed, “But it’s alright. I don’t see her straying anytime soon. And the physical is nothing. But I can’t give her my soul. I’ve pledged that to my family. My mother was killed by a vendor who hired my father. I promised myself I would do what I could to take care of my sister. I have nothing left to give.” 

He blinked as he admitted more than he’d thought he would but Aze’s look softened. 

“We will free them.”

“I’ve learned not to rely on other people. They never tell you the truth,” he said ruefully. 

“Vashti does. She saved my life. So I’ll save hers where I can. And it’s not like I ever expect her to be grateful. Or to….love me….like I….well, you know. But I can do this. And she’ll help you. Maybe you’ll surprise yourself. As for the physical stuff….all I ask is if it does happen…..can I watch?” Aze’s grin was toothy when he turned to her in surprise. 

“You are full of surprises, spitfire,” he said. She flicked him on the chest leaving small droplets of water behind. 

“I’m not immune to looks, idiot,” she said, “And you’re both stunning. So I’d like to see it. Plus I’d like to see the dynamic.” 

“You see a lot more than people think, don’t you?” Elvad asked. 

“It’s how I survive,” Aze said with a nod. It was then that Vashti sighed deeply, settled back onto her heels, and dropped her hands into the sand. Her eyes opened slowly and for a moment they blazed gold but then she smiled. And it was for Aze. Only for Aze. It was intimate and gentle, the kind of look Vashti shied away from normally. Aze wanted to kiss her but knew as the look cleared that Vashti would never be a tender person. She would allow only as much as she could excuse. So Aze interlocked her fingers and smiled back, giving what she knew Vashti would take. 

Vashti took a deep breath. Power was tingling in her fingers. She wanted to fuck. To roll Aze in the sand and mark her until the woman would never be mistaken for anything but Vashti’s. But Elvad sat next to Aze and she had a new goal. Syria had given her real strength for this endeavor and she wouldn’t waste it. After, she promised herself, after they’d freed those born of Jordan she would take Aze in the heart of a volcano and show the Oasis born true power.  She sucked in another deep breath before rising to her knees once more. 

“We’ve been blessed to go to Latva. Come on, it’s four days of travel to get there. We have to start moving now,” she said. 

“It’s mid afternoon,” Elvad said, “You want to start travelling in the hottest part of the day? With an Oasis born?”

Aze rolled her eyes. “I can handle it. I’ve travelled in this more than you have, I’m willing to bet.” 

“I’ll take care of Aze. You worry about you. I’ve never left Alyria. You’ll be leading the way,” Vashti said. 

Elvad hesitated before nodding. And with that, they were on their way. 

 

Vashti didn’t tell them what the goddess had told her. It wasn’t their business. So she simply walked slightly behind Elvad and surveyed the scene. She’d dropped the house into the sand and when Aze sighed deeply she’d told the woman, “Don’t worry, we’ll be back.” They’d packed up all the things they’d buried in the sand, Aze had tied her sack around her waist and slapped Elvad’s hands away  when he reached for it. 

“So what’s your story,” he asked as they walked. Vashti was slightly behind them, taking in the empty dunes along the road. The city was behind them, slowly turning into a shimmering skyline and ahead of them was nothing. She could see why it was daunting to those who weren’t blessed. 

“My story?” Aze asked, her eyebrows lifting. 

“What got you here? I mean it’s clear you’re crazy cause she’s crazy and you’re following her but the question is why?” he asked. 

“I don’t think I need to tell you that,” Aze said primly. 

“You don’t need to but you should. I have a feeling I’m going to be sticking around and we should at least try to like each other. And that means….bonding,” Elvad grinned. 

He hadn’t known freedom in a long time and his jovial expressions were his way of dealing with that. Vashti was different. He could already tell. She didn’t look at him like a bargaining chip. She looked at him like she was intrigued. Like she might even respect him if given half a chance. He hadn’t had that since before he was taken from his home. A home that they were now walking towards. As Alyria faded into the skyline he felt the bounce in his step grow more pronounced. He was going home. This time without icy chains on his wrist. 

“What do you know about the ice nation?” Aze asked instead of answering his question. He shrugged. 

“What most people know, I guess. They’re pale. Unemotional. Cold. And they’re trained as children to hunt my kind down and lock us up. And our god does nothing because he can’t. Not without starting a war. The god with no name is not kind,” Elvad said. 

“No god is kind,” Vashti said from behind them, “But you’ve seen their power. Is it like ours?”

“Like ours? No. But yes. It grows with the child until they are an adult. And they become more like the ice they use with each year. Once a friend of mine ran because he was held in by a child. The child slipped up for a moment. One breath of kindness was enough. He ran free. No one has since then. I also know the children are stolen. They aren’t sourced here legally. Well, it’s legal here but it can’t be there. Not the way they come in. I don’t know much of their god but it makes me think they’re also afraid to fight because their god hides behind his own fears,” Elvad said. 

Vashti sneered. “The gods do that. They do it because they must. Wars among themselves are nothing to them but….the people here….what happens when the blessed are hunted? Not hunted for work but hunted to kill? Their own ties to this land begin to fade. So instead they stay meek in their homes while we fight for our lives. It’s time for that to change. They made us for a purpose.  And we will rise for their glory.” 

Both Aze and Elvad stopped to look at her. She stepped up beside them and touched both of their shoulders, a shock of power rippling between the three of them. 

“We will change the world,” she said before stepping forward and walking on along the road. 

Elvad blinked away the tiny frisson of power and looked over at Aze who only smiled at him briefly and moved on. She too was shocked by the touch but she couldn’t let Elvad know. Instead she hurried to catch up to Vashti who was now powering ahead. 

“What the hell did the goddess say to you?” Aze hissed under her breath.

“It doesn’t matter,” Vashti replied just as quietly. 

“Yes it does. Clearly. That wasn’t there before. She blessed this, didn’t she? She wants to start a war,” Aze said accusingly. 

Vashti looked over at Aze, her eyes piercing the other woman through. “There are no gods of actions, you know that but if there was….Syria likes games and war. It’s a game. We’re playing it. And this time it looks like we hold most of the power. If we do this right we’ll win.”

“A war between the worlds?” Aze asked. 

“A war between the creators and the creations that forgot who made them,” Vashti shot back. 

“They forgot because the gods got lazy. Father forgive me, but they did. They let it happen. They let people take over. They let money cut more than ability. Power becoming power? They let that fail. I’m not sure I trust in that so fully anymore,” Aze admitted. Vashti stopped walking and caught Aze’s chin cruelly in her hand.

“Don’t trust in them. Trust in me,” she said, her mouth a thin line, “I am not my goddess. I am her vessel but I am me. And I want to win this. For us. For our kind. For a world where those like Elvad and his sister don’t need to hide or sell themselves to save one another. The  _ only  _ people who matter to the gods are those like us. And people have forgotten that. They’ve deluded themselves into thinking they too are loved and wanted but they aren’t. They’re the problem with our world and I intend to fix that. I do. Trust in me. You promised, didn’t you?” 

Aze stared up at the woman she’d come to love. The woman she would never burden with those words. Hooking her hands behind Vashti’s neck roughly, she pulled the taller woman’s mouth down to her own. She kissed her roughly and with promise, power digging into her teeth when Vashti opened her mouth. It took Elvad clearing his throat playfully for them to step back but they did. Vashti had dug her nails into Aze’s back and tiny welts had formed in her paler skin. Aze laughed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 

“You always draw blood,” she said. 

Elvad looked interested and Vashti rolled her eyes. “Are you with me?” she asked.

 

“I thought that was obvious. Come on. Let’s go free the volcanoes,” Aze said, nudging Vashti before skipping ahead. 

In her heart she knew what Vashti meant to do to those without abilities. She knew it wasn’t strictly right. She didn’t care. Vashti was right. The world had forgotten. It was time to remind them who ruled. And if that meant the rivers ran with blood, it was a small price to pay. 

“You’ll be proud of me, father. If I have to slaughter a million humans to make it so, you will be proud,” she muttered to herself. Looking back she saw the two people she knew would help lead their destiny and she paused to wait. 

 

“SO I was right. You and the spitfire,” Elvad said with a nod. 

“No one ever told you that you weren’t,” Vashti said.

“No. But it’s good to know I can still read these things. I’ve been in a cage for a long time. You lose some of your social abilities to that. I’ll take what I can get,” he replied. His grin was easy but there was more in his eyes. Vashti could see the toll it took for him to give away his freedom. He’d allowed his chains only to find out it had been for a lie. Maybe they’d kept their promise for a while but it was never going to be as long as they’d told him. He’d bowed to a lie. And that would harm any man, let alone one with such a volatile ability brewing in his blood. 

“We’ll kill them. Like we killed your master,” she said. 

He looked surprised for a moment and then nodded. 

“All of them. Unless you tell me to stop every single person in your city that isn’t like us will burn,” she said fervently. 

“Even the children?” he asked, though something in his blood roared at the idea. 

“No. Not the small ones. But we will show them where they belong. The rest? The ones who would know what they were doing? They will die. With fire, or sand, or water in their throats. They will know true fear,” Vashti promised. 

“And what happens when they unleash the ice nation children on us?” Elvad asked. 

“I’m not hurt by ice. Neither is Aze. We’ll protect your people,” Vashti said. 

“You know I want to believe you. It just seems far fetched. You can protect us from the wrath of that many ice children? They’re ruthless,” he said. 

“So am I,” Vashti replied and he couldn’t help but believe her. He nodded and they didn’t speak for a long while after that. 

When the suns began to line up Vashti yawned and nodded. “It’s time to stop. Rest. We need our strength if we’re going to do this. I’ll build a shelter.” 

Elvad almost offered to help but as quickly as she’d spoken, the building was up. Aze smiled in relief and collapsed under her roofed area, snuggling into sand that slowly rose with water. She settled into the pool she’d made and hummed with happiness. 

“All I ever wanted was a place no one would hunt me and a nice puddle to sit in,” she commented. 

Vashti plopped down across from her and began to pull her jewelry from her face with the same deliberate movements she did every night. Aze found it reassuring. Elvad stared. 

“That is….why do you wear so much? I’ve never seen anyone with that much in their skin. Not even those in Alyria who came in for high end swords,” he asked when they both looked over at him.

She shrugged. “At first it was because it bothered my family. Then I just began to like it.” 

“You like to be looked at,” Elvad said. Aze tried not to fume at the way he spoke to Vashti and instead blew bubbles in the water. She tried to ignore them. Vashti noticed and gave her a sly smile before sneaking her toe up the inside of Aze’s leg under the water. The other woman gasped and sat up. 

“If it’s by the right people,” Vashti purred. 

Aze let the teasing touch go on before slamming her knees shut. “And who is that?” she asked snidely. 

Vashti pondered them both before smiling with a predator edge and saying, “You.” 

Aze felt her whole body flush at the admittance but Elvad couldn’t let his question go. 

“And for the first 50 something years of your life?” he prodded. 

Vashti looked over, irritated. “I suppose I did it for me. Standing out proves to people that they can’t use their usual intimidations on me. I have my own strength.”

“You’re just a child,” he scoffed.

“And how old are you, oh ancient, wise one?” she snapped back, her attention snapping from one to the other quickly. Aze deflated. 

“I’m 65, if you must know,” he said.

“Which makes you the expert. Obviously,” Vashti said with a roll her eyes. 

“All I’m saying is it means something more that just making a pretty girl look at you. And tell me, do you like her because it’s forbidden, too?” Elvad pushed. But he’d pushed too far. In the blink of an eye, the sharp tip of a sand knife was pressed to his throat. “Don’t think I won’t kill you if you irk me too much,” Vashti said steadily. “I’m no longer a child. I do the things I want for me and as for Aze…..don’t you dare speak of her if you’re going to insult her. She chose me on her own. You….you want this out of me. Don’t pretend you don’t. I do what I do for myself and myself alone. And if I lie with Aze it has nothing to do with shocking the masses and more to do with what. I. Want.” The knife made small cuts on the staccato of her last words. He didn’t wince but when it dropped he blew out his breath. “I was joking,” he said. “Don’t,” she snapped back. “It’s okay, Vashti,” Aze said from beside them, “I know you first did it to see what people would do. And I know now that isn’t why. He doesn’t need to know that. No one does.” “You need to learn to take more,” Vashti said viciously to the sweet woman beside her. She could see the adoration. The love. And she craved it but not when it meant Aze would bow. Aze should bow to no one. Not even her. She was lucky and she knew it. To have a true born follow her. To have the devotion of that true born. And to be able to take, however briefly it may be, the physical passion that true born gave. “Don’t cower, don’t allow. Take and do not apologize.” Aze’s eyes sparked, the green brighter somehow as she crawled toward Vashti. Elvad looked up at the sky and fell onto his back, knowing he couldn’t change what was about to happen. “Take?” Aze breathed along Vashti’s thigh, her voice a hot purr. Vashti pulled the woman up. “Yes. Take. Don’t bow to anyone. Not to me, not to him, not even to your father. You are a force of nature. Something to be reckoned with. The moment you forget that is the moment you concede defeat. If you kneel it is out of strength. And if I try and take more than I should, you need to remind me of that.” Aze looked stunned. Even Elvad looked surprised. He sat up. “What?” Vashti snapped at them both, “We are all equal. You just both keep forgetting that. I’m not more powerful, I simply fall under another god’s protection. We are the same. I am the leader but I shouldn’t be taking what you aren’t willing to give. I’m not making you slaves. I would never do that to any of those like us. You are here because you chose to be and not even I should be asking too much of you.” “We bow to no one,” Elvad muttered, thinking of how they’d used ice to mark the back of his neck when he refused to kneel. He wouldn’t kneel ever again. “We take what we need and what we want,” Aze said to herself. She remembered her mother kicking her away from the scraps of food they had. She would eat what she wanted when she wanted and she would apologize to no one. “Exactly,” Vashti said more warmly. She pulled Aze towards her and Elvad averted his eyes as her leg crawled up Aze’s hip to hook around her back. “What do you want, Aze, born of Oasis?” Aze looked over at Elvad and grinned lazily. He knew it was the grin of someone who had won. “I want him to go outside so all he knows are our cries into the night,” she drawled. “Then take it,” Vashti growled, biting Aze’s shoulder. Power sparked across the sand and Elvad scampered away without any other prompting. He could evacuate when he wasn’t wanted. He sat outside the hut, happy just to be able to be outside. He listened to the gasps and cries of the two women inside the makeshift house and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he was at peace. 


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vashti, Aze, and Elvad get to Latva. They fight to free Elvad's people and Vashti secures an alliance.

LATVA was an oddly placed city. It sat close to the sea and was a prospering port town below the volcanoes. The range itself spread back beyond the bustling port but almost seemed forgotten by those who lived there.  Some of the volatile volcanoes even sat under the mild waves and some days blew hot water across the surface. Those who hid in the volcanoes were hard to hunt but that didn’t mean they weren’t sought after. Tirion, a 30 year old girl just in the prime of her life, had spent the last three weeks in the lava itself in the hopes those who had locked her into a contract wouldn’t find her. It was in this place that she heard the news. Not from one of her own people, but from a hunter scaling the crust. 

“They say he killed his master and took his contract. That he left with a crazy sand siren,” he was saying to the one holding the rope above his head. 

“A sand siren? But Alyria has temples for those. Keeps them demure, locked away. And for the right price….”

Tirion listened to them men laugh and pictured their leers. She snarled to herself and the lava bubbled. 

“She’s some high born. You know, the kind the temples won’t take because their families can keep them. Mistake, I say. Those whores need to be beaten down early. Shown who’s boss,” the hunter hummed up to his friend. 

“Too true,” the other agreed, “Like these mongrels. Taught who they serve. They’ll find him. They’ll kill him and his whore. They always do.” 

Tirion simmered but didn’t rise. She knew they couldn’t cast a net into the lava. Only if she rose would they have a chance. She wouldn’t give them that. Breathing was hard enough for them in the volcano range. All she had to do was wait. 

“Those blessed by gods think they’re so much better. But we show them who controls this world. Fuckin’ sun sirens and the like. They’ll get him,” the hunter said darkly.

“Which one was it?” the other called down curiously. 

“Elvad. One Roxbar caught here, actually. His little sis is said to be hiding out in one of these hell pits. She’s more powerful than he is. You know what I’ll do when I catch her?” the hunter laughed and the lava boiled around her so bubbles popped by his feet. 

“Don’t tell me, man. I don’t want to know, you dirty bastard. Come on. They’re not here. Let’s check the next one,” the other man said and soon they were gone. 

Tirion wasn’t stupid enough to rise from the lava. She wouldn’t move for two more days. She’d calculated how long she could go without food or water and that was it. She wouldn’t leave until she had to. Sinking farther down she coveted the news that her brother was free. She just hoped he wouldn’t be killed and that the woman with him wasn’t foolish enough to try and use their abilities to get away. If there was anything Tirion had learned, it was that her abilities were nothing but trouble. Cursing Jordan himself, she closed her eyes to doze. 

 

“I think they know we’re here,” Aze said dryly when Vashti shot a layer of sand at the hunters rushing them. An alarm sounded not moments later and as Aze looked longingly towards the port, Vashti used the packed down sand and layers under the dirt to create a wall around them. 

“They knew we were coming. Taking that contract means nothing. But if these people are gone, it doesn’t matter. So help me, please,” Vashti explained, carelessly flicking the lone man running at them aside with a wall of sand, making a dune. Only a single hand stuck out of it. It twitched for a moment before settling. 

“So what’s the plan?” Elvad asked, vibrating with the need for a fight. 

“Kill those who come at us. For now, ignore those in the town if they don’t try and stop us. Aze will stay with you since ice won’t hurt her. Try to stay somewhat close together but if we split up, be careful. We’re heading for those,” Vashti said, pointing to the volcanoes, “and once we get there, we’ll kill those in the hunter’s settlement. Even the ice nation. If they yield, spare them but make sure they can’t run. Other than that? Kill everyone. And humans? Don’t show mercy. It’s not the time for kindness.” 

Elvad and Aze nodded. “My people hide in the lava. You might need me to help you get them out,” Elvad said. 

“Don’t worry. I’m not thinking we’re going to get separated for too long,” Vashti said. “It’s a straight shot through the main road of the city and I’m not here to sightsee.” 

Aze peered over the wall. “They’re lining up. If we’re going to do something we should do it soon. They might get too organized if we don’t.” 

“You wait a moment. The snakes told me the story of Elvad has carried. But they don’t know about you. Don’t let them until it’s too late,” Vashti said. 

Aze nodded. And then Vashti stepped around the wall. 

Syria had given Vashti more. When Vashti had asked, had explained her plan and shown her hopes to the goddess, Syria had given her more power. 

_ Once or twice every couple hundred years someone is born. Someone like you. And I try once more to help them rise. You have shown me that you are more than even I could have expected. I know your heart, Vashti Valeria. You are a clever creature with great ambition and the ruthlessness to get there. Let me help you and you might just win this game. For both of us.  _

Vashti remembered the words as the hunters aimed at her. Arrows could pierce any skin. There were no blessed who could withstand a hit. But they could deflect it. She walked easily towards them. Some were town guards but she knew none of them were blessed. They were shaking too much. Too scared to really hit her. She raised the sand below their feet to trap them. 

“You or me, Elvad?” she called back to the man behind the wall.

He looked over. “You. I want the hunters on the hill,” he said. 

“Good. Then get going. That’s first come first serve,” she grinned. Aze stuck by Elvad’s side as he moved. She tried to seem meek and trapped and it worked. As he powered forward even those stuck in the sand murmured.

“He’s taken a girl!” 

“What about the siren? I thought she was his whore!” 

“Kill him! Free the girl.”

Aze could see why Vashti had told her to hide it. This would be so much more shocking. She kept to herself as Elvad powered through, knocking people to the side and overwhelming them with flames. Death had never been something she hid from. Those in the tribes of Oasis tended to die young. The sun could kill those not blessed and Aze had seen bodies mangled by others on the road. Death was a fact and the death of those that hunted her kind didn’t phase her. She watched Elvad kill with the calculating look of someone who was ready to join in when necessary. 

Vashti was holding her own. The sand was her weapon. Though no snakes had followed her to this place she could feel them in the outskirts, in the sand, waiting. Her first true friends ready to catch those who ran.  She whipped walls and knives with perfect aim. When a man fell to his knees in front of her she pulled the hilt of her whip from her hip. He blubbered. 

“I’m sorry,” he cried, “I’m sorry. I’ll give. I’m sorry.” 

The sand formed into a whip slowly as she looked down on him, her lip curling. 

“That’s good. But it won’t save you. You’re only sorry in the face of death. But where were you when children were hunted in these hills? Where were you when the ice nation children came and encased them in cold? Where were you when my people were knocked down and beaten? You were here. Hunting us. You’re apology means nothing to me,” she sneered. 

He cried out as the whip cut a deep gash into his cheek. She was methodical. It never hit the same skin twice. When he curled in a ball on his side she sighed.

“You’re all so depressing. So weak. It’s time you learned. We will rule this land and you will be the ones in chains,” she said.

He sank into the sand, his eyes wide and pleading until they were swallowed by the grains. He couldn’t struggle free and as she watched, he disappeared.  When she looked up the town was quiet. She knew they were watching. Cowering in their homes. Planning how they could kill her. Hoping for someone to leash her as they’d leashed those before her. She grinned, walking cockily forward.

“My name is Vashti Valeria and I am here to free those like me. I am blessed, not cursed. And I’m here to tell you….Syria will stand for this no longer. We are not meant to bow. To be your toys. Your workers. Your whores. And you will be the first to learn this lesson. One of your sons has returned. Aren’t you happy to see him?” she opened her arms wide, knowing her tattoos shifted in the sunlight and the jewels in her skin were sparkling. She was her goddess incarnate and she tipped her head back into the sun, the column of her throat slim in the light as she praised Syria for her gifts. 

Elvad was awed by her. By the power burning in her skin. And by her confidence. He stepped up behind her, wanting just a taste of her sinful pleasure. 

“You done?” he asked, trying to hide how impressed he truly was. 

She smiled, tipping her head to look at him. “Yes. Let’s do this.” 

Most of the town stayed hidden in their homes. She would leave their fate up to those hiding in the volcanoes. They were the ones who would choose who lived and who died. It seemed only fair. The few that rushed her were quickly taken care of. The streets were quiet for the most part. Her bare feet left half moon marks of blood on the stone walkways, the bodies of those who had tried to attack her left behind. She ignored the cries left in their wake. There would be more pain in their future, she knew. Death came for everyone and she would make sure they would come for those in Latva soon. 

But then they reached the base of the volcano ridge. A wall of ice nation men and women stood there. No emotion in their faces. 

“Any of you who kneel and pledge to me in this moment will be spared,” Vashti ventured but she knew they wouldn’t come to her. They had been broken too thoroughly to respond. Sure enough, they blinked at her, the ice crystallizing around their hands. It filled her with sorrow to see them. Nothing left in their heads. They’d been carved out. She rolled the sand up into her hands and beside her Elvad armed himself with flames. Aze stood slightly behind them, ready to prove her worth when the time came. 

“Time to hold to your word. If those get around me, I’m down,” Elvad said under his breath.

“Believe in the gods. They’ll help us. And when that fails, believe in me,” Vashti said. 

“I’m trying to,” Elvad smirked, though his eyes were troubled. 

“Well, let’s prove it to you,” Vashti said. The sand lashed from her hands and there wasn’t time to talk anymore. 

The ice nation was known to be strong. Their children malleable and easy to control. Sure enough they were unrelenting.  They moved forward without flinching, even when the sand crashed into them and cut their flesh to ribbons. The waves of cold ice cut at Vashti, but she kept moving. Despite their allegiance, she was impressed. Vashti killed two easily before the line converged. Elvad joined the fight only to find one locked onto his wrist, blue eyes blank as they watched him struggle. The cold seeped into his bones and he felt his own abilities waning. 

“Aze!” he barked through gritted teeth.

Aze smiled. “Father, I hope you see this,” she murmured before letting her tight hold on her powers go. 

Water pounded from her skin and slammed into the boy holding tight to Elvad. It washed him away as he began to choke. Elvad watched in surprise as the wave moved methodically through the line. Vashti’s battle was left untouched but Aze made sure to knock the rest down. She brought the wave to a line in front of her, carrying the ice nation children with it. The children choked on the water they were trapped in. Unable to swim up or away they would drown on the dry sands far away from home. So Aze gave them the same gift she’d given the one who had held Elvad. The person they loved most, even if half forgotten, flashed before them. Slowly, they stopped struggling and gazed at her. She could not fool them into believing it wasn’t her, but she could show them what they’d forgotten. She could give them what had been taken from them. 

“Breathe,” she soothed, “Breathe and it will all be over.” 

And they did. 

The last two had fallen to Vashti’s death blows as Aze lowered the wave. The bodies fell to the ground, limp and lifeless, a whole army decimated by one woman. The water seeped into the dirt below them. In the streets they heard a child wail. Elvad was looking at Aze with appreciation for the first time. 

“I didn’t know you could do that,” he said.

“She can do a lot more, too. Come on. We have to let them know it’s over,” Vashti said, looking up the tight ledge. They hadn’t found the hunters yet. But that would be easy after this. With nothing left to protect them they would succumb quickly. The party marched up the dirt path until they saw their first group of hunters. 

“So it’s true,” one sneered, “Two sirens. Didn’t anyone ever teach you? You’re meant to serve, not to rule.” 

The other shook his head and stepped back but didn’t run. Vashti only bared her teeth. 

“We were made to serve our gods, not you,” she said, “And it’s about time that you all remember that.” 

She looked over at Aze who smiled and stepped forward. 

“Are you their toy?” the man said, a gleam in his eye, “I’ll play with you too, pretty thing.” 

Aze shook her head. “I’m only hers. And wouldn’t you know it? I want to play with you more.” 

Like the monsoon she’d caused in their home, rain began to whip around the men, nearly cutting with how hard it moved. They both gaped in surprise as they stumbled backwards toward the ledge. She aimed them that way, the wind pushing their feet even as they tried to stay rooted. 

“You’re one, too,” he said, sounding betrayed. 

“I’m even more than that,” Aze said, believing it for the first time, “I’m god born.” 

It would be the last thing the men would hear as their heels caught the edge and they tumbled back into the lava. The volcano seemed to burble and burp at the intrusion. For a moment there was silence and then the other hunters hidden in the crevices of the volcano tried to run. A rope made of sand tripped them and it was with great care that Elvad burned them until their screams fell to whimpers and then to silence. 

Elvad was panting as he fell to his knees in front of pyr he’d created. He had never lived in a world where he was the one who made decisions. Even when he had been free, he had spent his time hiding in the volcanoes as his sister and the others like him did now.  He had never seen a life where he was the hunter and not the hunted. As he bent into the volcano he felt tears drip down his cheeks.

“Tirion?” he called, “Tirion, are you in there?” 

For a moment all they could hear was the bubble of the lava but then a girl’s slim hand crawled out of the goo. She surfaced and shook out her hair as she wiped lava from her face. Her skin was red from her time in the heat and as it cooled, lava stuck to her eyelashes. 

“Elvad?” she called back, “Is it true? Did you come with a sand siren to save us?”

Elvad’s face broke out into a smile and Vashti memorized the look. It was the first look of pure joy she’d seen on him and she coveted it. 

“Yes. The hunters are dead. So are the ice children. You can come out. If there are more hidden down there, they can too,” he said. 

It took her a few minutes to pull herself from the lava and onto the ledge. When she stood in front of them she studied them all critically. 

“You’ve gotten heavy,” she said to her brother, a gleam in her eye. 

“And you’ve gotten thin,” he quipped back. Vashti, who had never shared any love with her siblings, felt a jealous flare before she stepped forward. 

“Your brother has spoken highly of you. Are there more of you here?” she asked. 

“A few,” Tirion said with a nod, “But most hide farther into the mountains. In the range where our people don’t dare to live. We can find them. They come out if they know who you are. I just wanted to hear the news the hunters bring, so I stayed here.” 

“Good. The city is yours now. Syria has blessed me for this mission and I’m sure Jordan will as well when he sees how this went. This city won’t fall again. Not if your people stand tall,” Vashti said.

Tirion looked at her critically, her hands on bare hips. “And I should trust you? The ice nation always comes back. Alyria always sends more hunters. Why should I wake my people for you?” 

Vashti looked back at Elvad with a grin. “She’s more than you said she was.”

“She would like you to talk to her and not to her brother,” Tirion snapped. 

“Alright,” Vashti spun back to face the younger girl, “How about this? I want your brother to continue working with me. This is his city but he told me you’re more powerful. If I can get Jordan to bless you with more power and I leave the city in your hold, will you allow yourself to trust me?”

Tirion squinted, golden eyes nearly filled with flames. “You think you can get Jordan to give me even more power?”

“I do. Syria did the same for me,” Vashti nodded. 

“Alright. If Jordan blesses me with more power I’ll take you at your word,” Tirion agreed. 

“You should trust her,” Elvad added, “She got me here. Her and Aze.” 

Tirion looked past Vashti to Aze. “She doesn’t look like much.”

“She’s a child of Oasis,” Vashti snapped, “More powerful than all of us.” 

“Hm. Touchy,” Tirion huffed. “Very well. Let’s go see the damage. I’m not bringing my people out until I’m sure.” 

The town below the volcano was fairly calm. People were heard muttering and weeping but no one rushed out when the group walked through. Tirion still wore nothing but the cooling tar of the volcano. She didn’t seem ashamed. 

“Why did you come here?” she asked Vashti as they neared the  main road back towards Alyria. 

“I have a vision of a world born free. Children blessed by gods rule and those who aren’t blessed know their place. To win this future I need those like you to rise up and join with me. That’s why I’m here. I want to free us all so we can rule as we were made to do,” Vashti explained. 

“It’s compelling but doesn’t seem very realistic,” Tirion replied. 

“We just won you your town back. That’s not realistic?” Vashti countered. 

Tirion grinned. “Tell me the plan, sand girl, and I’ll let you know if I’m considering it.” 

Aze leaned in to Elvad. “It seems your sister is already a ruler. Whether she sees it or not,” she said. 

Elvad looked over at her. He didn’t begrudge her a throne. She had a better mind for it and he knew it. He nodded. 

“I always thought she was a good leader. I would give her this land and all it entails if I could,” Elvad replied. 

“How big is Latva? We’ve only see this part,” Aze asked.

“Didn’t your people ever come through here?” he asked back. 

“No, not when I was with them at least. It’s a little too hot for us,” Aze said, “We try to stick to the dry air areas.” 

“Well it’s big. This is just the main port part of the city. It actually spans across the volcano range back to the east and abuts the caves of Despori. We’ve never had issues with them but they have skirmishes with the woods to their south. We don’t have many people but we have a lot of space,” Elvad said. “Most people don’t want to live by the volcanoes. Most of our blessed aren’t strong enough to blow them, but they’re still volatile. It’s only because of the port that it’s as crowded as it is.” 

“And your people?” she asked.

“They hide mostly in the range. Those who stay close to the city usually do so for a reason. We try to smuggle the kids out farther until they’re old enough to decide for themselves. A lot of the times my people don’t see the sun for months at a time.” 

Aze frowned. “That’s sad.” 

Ahead of them, Tirion and Vashti spoke with heads close together. Elvad turned to Aze. 

“What about you? I know about the sand sirens and how they try to lock most of them into temples unless they’re high born. I know Alyria hides their poor below the surface, deeper than any other city goes. I don’t know much about the tribes of Oasis. Do they value you?” 

Aze shook her head. “They usually have one. An elder of the tribe, and they are the only ones who spell for water. The children are taught not to use their powers. And if someone like me is born? We’re shunned usually until we leave.”

“People are afraid of power,” Elvad said thoughtfully. 

“Vashti has it right. It’s about time the world learned what true power is,” Aze said darkly. She thought of her mother’s heel as it dug into her bony side. She shook her head. “We’ll change the world.” 

“We will. I don’t think I can go back to the way things were,” Elvad confessed. 

“Me either. I think she has a way of doing that to you. If you’d asked me a month ago I would have laughed at the idea that we could rule anything but it seems possible now,” Aze said thoughtfully. 

“It seems like more than that. I’ve never seen my sister walk so tall. She’s never been so….unashamed,” Elvad said. 

“I can hear you, you know,” Tirion called back to them. Aze chuckled. 

“Thought your ears were filled with lava,” he shot back. 

“No, that’s you. Crusted in there. It’s seeped into your brain, too,” she said. Vashti watched the young woman grin and once again felt lucky. She thanked Syria for the opportunity to see it. 

“I’d like for you to keep the hold here,” Vashti said, “And I don’t mean your people. I mean you. It seems like you have a solid understanding of not only your people but your position here. You also have just the right amount of caution. I’d like to rid you of your cynicism but I also understand why it’s there. So if you find me worthy of trusting in, I’d like for it to be you to rule.” 

“Not my brother?” Tirion asked, her left eyebrow quirked upward. 

Vashti studied the young girl. Like her brother, she nearly glowed in gold and her hair was a fine and deep burgundy.  The lava had crusted to her skin but it seemed that she’d wiped it from her hair and face so she simply lit up as she moved. Vashti didn’t care that she was young or beautiful or even that she was powerful. She cared about the intelligence in her eyes. About the way she questioned and asked what ran through her head. She wouldn’t have cared if her blessed nature was lesser as long as she kept her questioning nature. 

“No,” Vashti replied, “Not your brother. Besides being too hot headed, I need him with me. You, however, are level headed. You understand the need to hide. And a way of caution but also strength. The only thing I can truly teach you is how to not be ashamed of what you are.” 

“That’s easy for you to say. I learned the common language from the hunters. From their speech as they came through here to hunt us. I didn’t learn because I wanted to. I learned because I had to. If I didn’t it could be me next. So I learned as most of us did. Quickly and and out of necessity. We don’t have a temple. We don’t praise a god here. It’s hidden. Idols in households buried when they come. It’s easy for you. You’re clearly born into high society. Look at the jewels you’re wearing. The ink on your body, I bet you paid handsomely for that. I bet your family didn’t even try to rid themselves of you. You live in Alyria, I can tell from the accent, which means there are temples to every god. You probably learned what you were without shame or ridicule,” Tirion snapped, her hands on her hips. 

Vashti snorted. “You think I’d be here doing this if I was treated without shame? My first memories are of my parents trying to find an excuse to give me away. High society only means they weren’t able to. It doesn’t mean they loved me. I did learn in a temple but they brainwashed the sirens. Told them we were blessed to serve those who weren’t blessed. I didn’t believe that. I loved my goddess and because of that, she loves me. These tattoos? I did most of them myself. The rest I had a faithful servant do. She knew if she didn’t do it right I’d kill her. I want you all to rise about the lives you were told you needed to live because you are more than that. The sooner we start working together the sooner we’re the ones who rule, not them. You shouldn’t be scared of hunters. We’ll handle the ice nation.” 

Tirion leveled her gaze at Vashti, stopping as they neared the main entrance to the city. “I want to believe you. So prove it to me. Show me you can get Jordan to care and I’ll do it. I’ll run Latva for you and even bless you stealing my brother away.” 

Vashti grinned. “Let’s go back up. Set up your people down here. I’ll prove it to you.” 

So they climbed back up the volcano. 50 people climbed from the lava when Tirion whistled and after a whispered conversation in their native tongue, a guttural thing that sounded like smoke, they headed down to the port, fire in their palms and eyes, unabashed in their nakedness. The others  could hear the shrieks of the people even from up the mountain but they didn’t start down. Instead the three followers turned to look at Vashti. She smiled and knelt. Her skirt, a light cream color that opened at the side of her thigh, parted so the could see the neverending sack she kept tied underneath. The tattoos seemed to glow in the light of the two suns as they aligned for the evening and her eyes fluttered shut. She placed her fingertips at the tops of her breasts where the first golden lines began and spoke softly. 

“I need you to prove it to us all now. I’m calling in another favor,” she said. 

_ Soon you’ll owe me more than you can give. Careful, little Vashti, that you don’t ask too much.  _ The goddess’ reply was filled with mirth. 

“What I am asking for here isn’t a favor for me. It’s for you. You wanted this. You gave me more strength. I can feel it inside of me. All I ask is that you get your lover to stand by his own as well. He blessed them but still he lets them be hunted. I know why. I don’t blame him. But it’s time for all of you to step up. If he does this he’ll own this city. You know the goal. For each city to be run not by them but by us. For all of you. To give back what you gave us. Not in money or gold but in power. So please. Don’t think of it like a favor. Think of it as insurance,” Vashti murmured. 

“She speaks to her goddess like that?” Tirion asked, leaning in to ask her brother. 

“Yes,” Elvad replied.

“I’ve never heard Jordan’s voice,” Tirion said in awe. 

“I don’t think most of us have heard their voices. She’s just lucky. Or just too aggressive to say no to,” Aze joked. 

“Shush,” Vashti snapped without opening her eyes, her fingers trailing down to her waist, “I’m listening.” 

_ You have a fine cast there. And I see you found my gift. I saw him as they carried him to Alyria. Such anger. So much beauty in that power. I left him for you. But I do see your point. To keep Latva and its people we need to promise them more than what they’ve had. We need to promise them what they deserve. Give me a moment. I’ll speak with him. _

Vashti opened her eyes and grinned. “She’s speaking with him.”

“And you trust her?” Tirion asked snottily. 

Vashti looked at the young girl coldly. “I know you haven’t had much contact with your god and I’m sorry for that but Syria has never lied to me. She’s never promised me something she hasn’t come through on. Even when I nearly let Aze die, she helped her. Aze wasn’t hers to help but she did. She is reliable and I would trust her to make all my decisions if she truly wanted to.”

Aze flushed when Tirion looked over at her. She shrugged. “It’s true. Somehow I didn’t die. I trust Syria and she isn’t mine to trust.” 

_ Your faith in me is what gives me hope. Now, let me tell you how this will work….. _

Vashti gasped as the goddess handed her the information. It was as if it had been dumped into her head. Suddenly, she just knew. She nodded. 

“Thank you. Tell him thank you. Will they ever hear from him?” she asked. 

Elvad’s eyes widened. He hadn’t actually expected an answer. 

_ Someday. If they prove their worth. He isn’t as kind as I am. He isn’t as trusting. He’s only doing this as a favor to me. And because I promised him something. Something that you can give him and not I. But we will rise to that occasion later. Right now all they will have is his gift. But that should be more than enough.  _

Vashti wondered what had been promised that Syria herself couldn’t give but she shrugged it off. Her fingers finished their path to her back and she settled into the prayer for a moment before turning to the three waiting for her and smiling. 

“You’ll be given more power. When night falls he’ll bestow it. Only on you two. Only for now. But enough that you’ll feel it. Like Syria blessed me. You shouldn’t be harmed as much by the ice now. The hunters will no longer be able to hold you down. And the power you held with the volcanoes? It will amplify. He won’t speak with you until you prove your worth but if you start praying and you rule well I’m sure he’ll come to you. They want this as much as we do. This will be their crowning achievement as well,” Vashti explained. 

Tirion bared her teeth in the semblance of a smile. “We’ll see,” she said. 

Aze looked between the two women and not unlike when Elvad had broken her nose, Vashti only grinned wider. 

“We will.” 


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Latva burns.

NIGHT fell and they ate around the volcano. Below them people wept at the loss of all they had known but it was the cries of joy Vashti savored. She didn’t care about those it hurt, she only cared for those she’d freed. They’d risen from the ash and bubbling lava as new beings and they’d taken the town without remorse or shame. It was for them that she had stepped outside of her home land. It was all for them. And there were more like them. So when the suns aligned at midnight and Tirion and Elvad gasped as if in raptures she felt only satisfaction. 

“Watch,” she murmured to Aze who had her head on Vashti’s stomach. Aze turned sleepy eyes to the two sun sirens. They were glowing. Not just the gold of their skin but more. It poured off of them the way the midday suns shined. 

“Oh,” Aze breathed, wanting to follow that light as it travelled along their skin. 

“We shouldn’t need to fear each other. We’re all beautiful,” Vashti said softly. 

“Even those who could harm us?” Aze asked, thinking of the ice nation children and their blank eyes. 

“They weren’t born like that. No one is born with their soul scooped out. They would be beautiful if they weren’t hunted. We don’t need to fear them. We need to fear who broke them,” Vashti replied. 

Tirion and Elvad settled back, the new power pulsing on their skin as it sunk into their souls. Vashti smiled. 

“What?” Aze asked, wanting to trace the curve of the other woman’s lips with her tongue. 

“They’re going to need to fear us, soon enough,” Vashti said. 

“What have I told you about that smile?” Aze chided but it was with her own upturn of her lips. 

Vashti flicked her hard in the forehead. “Shush,” she said. 

“It’s growing on me,” Aze conceded, rubbing the spot where Vashti’s nail left a small red mark. 

Vashti was spared having to remark when Elvad’s eyes flew open and he seemed to choke on his newfound power. He lifted his hands to his face, his fingers red with flames. Tirion looked over at her brother first then at Vashti. 

“The city is mine,” she said, her voice a growl. 

“Yes,” Vashti agreed, “It is.” 

The young girl smiled, flames flying from the ends of her hair. “I’m going to make my god proud.” 

Vashti swore she could hear Syria laughing as lightning crackled in the sky. She wasn’t sure which one had done it but it didn’t matter. Sending a quick thank you to her goddess, she laid down to rest. The next day she would have to plan her next step. 

 

THE lands Latva abutted, Despori, was a nation of mountains and woods. Many Oasis born lived in the eastern part of the city while in the caves carved into the mountains, those born of Delana were trained. Usually shackled in the dark below the surface they were bought by high powered individuals across the continent to help them judge their futures. Vashti thought that maybe they should be her next stop. But first she needed to test the people of Latva. It was well known and not spoken about outside of dark alleys and the lower slums, that many blessed hid their powers. Either because they didn’t wish to have them or because they simply didn’t know. They tried not to be found. But Vashti wanted to find them. She wanted to train them and keep them with her. An army of those with power who trusted only her? It was the dream she wanted to believe in. She was already awake when the others began to stir. 

“I want to go to Despori,” she said as Elvad rolled over with a yawn. 

“That’s more than a few weeks of walking,” he said, rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

“I don’t care how long it will take. I want those touched by Delana on my side. They’re kept captive there. I wish to free them. Until we’re all free I don’t care how long it takes, I just want to get there. The question is, will you both go with me?” Vashti said. 

“Yes,” Aze said, snuggling deeper into the fur she’d laid out to sleep on. There was no hesitation, just devotion and Vashti felt a fierce sense of satisfaction from that. 

“I’ll go. I want to see you see this through,” Elvad said steadily. 

“Before you do that I want you all to see something,” Tirion said. She had sat up and was peering down the pathway to the port city below. 

“Have you decided what you want to do with the town?” Vashti asked. 

“You said you wanted to know if any of those people are like us but just hidden? I have a way to do that,” Tirion said, her eyes still trained on the road. 

Vashti sobered as Aze asked, “What?” 

“You’re going to blow the mountain,” Vashti stated. 

“I thought about it. I can do it without help now. All the people I sent down there will be fine. But the rest of the people? They won’t. And they don’t deserve to be. I’m not sure how I feel about Jordan allowing all of this to happen but I do know that his power isn’t a curse. Not anymore. The rest of this world needs to know what happens when we’re free,” Tirion replied. 

“And it will be a beacon for your other people. The ones trapped in the mountains,” Vashti added. 

Tirion nodded, thick tendrils of dark gold hair rippling with the movement. “We always said the first thing we’d do was burn them all, didn’t we?” she asked, turning to her brother. 

He would never stop being angry. He knew that. And he knew that Vashti had that same fire in her soul. The one that roared at the injustice. He would follow her into the dark because he was finally beginning to believe  in her fully. He also knew his sister’s anger would cool someday if she was allowed to let it run its course. He looked at her and nodded. 

“What’s one town as a price to pay?” he said. 

 

LATVA had many small towns. The port itself was the largest part of the city where the bustle of life was at its busiest. Usually the mornings were filled with hunters shipping in and out cargo while other goods such as food from the forests above them and exotic fruits from lands beyond were unloaded. On this morning though there was hardly any sound. Ships waited in the port, not sure why they had not yet been greeted. People hid in their homes, unsure of what was about to happen. Outside, those that had hidden in the lava were sleeping in the streets, happy just to see the sky again. 

It was in that hush that the volcano began to smoke. Ash rained down on the silent town and in their homes, the people quivered. 

Vashti and Aze had moved higher into the range away from the lava. Though Vashti would have been fine in the rolling heat and molten fire, Aze would not. They wanted to watch as the town got destroyed  but from a safe distance. 

“That’s a lot of people,” Aze said hesitantly.

“Are you starting to regret this?” Vashti asked. 

“I don’t think so. It’s just….that’s a whole city. Some of those people can’t be bad, right?” Aze said softly. 

“They knew,” Vashti said steadily, “You can’t say they didn’t. Even the kids. I know it’s unfair. But culture is unfair. Every single person in that town knew that hunters came here. They watched as they not only shipped these people out but as they brought people  _ in.  _ They let slavery of our people continue. And I’m not even discussing slavery of their own people. They no longer get to be the ones who decide and they need to find that out. As does the rest of the world.”

Aze nodded, thinking it over. “You’re right,” she said after a moment. “It just doesn’t feel…..right. Shouldn’t we  give them time to leave?” 

Below them the smoking volcano had begun to bubble and boil. The noise was making it hard to speak over. 

“They have time. They can hear this. They can run. And if they make it, they can tell everyone what happens to those who hunt the blessed,” Vashti said, her eyes reflecting the flames as they began to burst from the top of the volcano. She smiled.

Far below the people were waking. They were wondering what was happening. And when those in the streets, the very few that had climbed from that first volcano, began to cheer, fear sunk into their bones. Screams began to fill the air as lava spurted and oozed down the side of the mountain. Mothers grabbed their children and began to run but those at the base in the streets could feel their own powers crackling. For the first time they were the ones in charge. They sped up the lava, their own abilities bringing the orange goo closer to destroying the town. Of the 50 that had climbed down, 10 started to the gate to block the people from leaving. This was their revenge. 

Tirion and Elvad stood in the lava as it rose and crested around their waists. Tirion giggled. It was the most freeing sound Elvad had heard his sister make. 

“That girl….she can actually do this?” she asked over the growling of the volcano. 

“I believe she can,” he replied, taking his sister’s hand. 

“I want it. I didn’t ever think it was possible to have a life like that but I want it. I want to be the one who calls the shots. I want to be free,” Tirion said. Her voice trembled. Elvad could finally see the pain his sister had been living in. He turned to face her. 

“I signed away my life for yours. I’m so sorry. They lied to me. The whole time they lied,” he said. 

She shook her head. “That isn’t your fault. They were going to come for me eventually. And you came back.” 

“Thanks to her,” Elvad said. Below, they watched the people run frantically. “Thanks to Vashti. Aze came into the store first then the next day Vashti came with her. They killed the ice nation kid who was keeping me there and they killed the master. They got me out.” 

“She’s crazy,” Tirion said but she said it with a smile. 

“Just crazy enough to make it happen,” Elvad responded quickly. 

“Maybe,” Tirion said thoughtfully. 

Below them the city began to burn and the world as they knew it changed.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun sirens pledge themselves to Vashti and the crew moves on into Despori.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to anyone sticking with this story. Seriously. I know original works aren't what we're all here for, so I appreciate you!

IT took less than a week for the news to travel. It went past the mountains to the cave lands of Despori. It was whispered through the Brisa wood.  It went past them to the coastal city of Karpion and into the uncharted deserts where the tribes of Oasis roamed. When it reached the high chancellor of Alyria he paled and called an emergency meeting. 

“All of Latva?” one of the councilmen asked, his eyes wide and black. 

“All of the port city. Even the ships. 15 people made it out. Out of 10,000,” the chancellor said. 

“And it was the sun sirens?” another councilmen asked.

“Yes. One from here from what the intelligence said. He was working with a sand siren. It seems they all managed to blow the volcano and trap those in the town. The ones who got out described….well they had a very trying time. Most sustained burns,” the chancellor looked down at the table so he wouldn’t have to meet the eyes of his fellow councilmen. 

“What are we going to do?” one of the councilmen demanded. The muscles in his face twitched while the others looked on. 

“We can try sending troops. We have a team in place. But it has to wait. The lava hasn’t cooled yet. They could sink in before they even reach the city proper,” the chancellor said. 

“And what about the rest of Latva?” 

“For now they’re lost to us,” the chancellor said in despair. 

“We have to get them back. And we have to make an example of those that did this. Find them. Mark them as traitors and then kill them. Publically. This is already getting around. We can’t let it spread. If other blessed find out about this…..” the other councilmen nodded their agreement. 

“We’ll send out the hunters. Maybe some of the temple sirens. They can make an example of their own kind,” the chancellor said. He leveled his gaze at Rika Valeria who paled at the gaze. 

“If we find out this was your daughter are you alright with her death?” he  asked and Rika nodded quickly. She had taken his money, she would not take his position as well if he let her live.

“She was never anything but trouble. Her death wouldn’t bother any of the family,” Rika said with venom in his tone. He could still feel the iron she’d branded him with as a child. “We wouldn’t even mourn.” 

The man beside him patted him on the back sympathetically. 

“It is always a shame when one’s children aren’t what one hoped. Alright. Assemble the troops. Get them out to Latva. Tell them to wait until it cools and then go in. As for the sirens….find them. No doubt they went backwards into Despori. Make them wish they’d never broken their chains.”

With the chancellor’s final words the councilmen nodded and stood, bowing to one another before rushing to do his bidding. Alyria would make an example out of those that stood up to them. Latva would pay and so would the sirens who dared to think more of themselves. 

 

“ARE you sure you’re going to be alright alone?” Elvad asked for the 5th time as he stood on the edge of Latva. 

Tirion smiled. “Brother dear, we’ve gotten our people out of the range. We’ve found those who were hidden in the port town, some of whom didn’t even know what they were. We’ve aligned the warning drums and we’re powerful. The mountains do our bidding now. They won’t even get close. Plus the worst thing that happens is we withdraw again. It isn’t ideal but we know where to hide. Don’t worry so much. I’ll be fine. These are my people. This is my home. And I can finally see the sky. I won’t let them take that from me so easily.” 

“She’s been alone for a long time, Elvad. Come on. We have to go. No doubt Alyria has heard about this by now. We’ve lingered for long enough,” Vashti said. 

They had stayed in Latva for two weeks meeting the rest of the sirens that had hidden in the volcano range. There were many of them. Nearly as many as the people who had lived in the town below. They had all vowed to stand with Vashti when Tirion and Elvad explained what she and Aze had done. Nothing had felt more like victory than watching them kneel in still cooling lava to pledge themselves to her.  She could feel Syria thrumming in her blood. She wanted to keep moving. There was success on the horizon. She knew it. 

“Don’t be rude,” Elvad shot back, having learned that pushing back would actually cause Vashti to smile.

She did grin then but she also shifted her weight towards the range behind them. “I’m not being rude, I’m being truthful. She’s been alone long enough. She can handle it. Can’t you?” 

Tirion rolled her eyes. She’d found some clothes not burned by the lava and was now wearing a thin dress that barely covered her body, the teal dyed fabric bright against her glowing skin. 

“I’m more than capable,” the girl said, “Now go. You’re right. They’ve probably sent people by now and we need to be ready. If we want to hold the port and take the rest of the city we need to concentrate. Having you here would only fuel them more.” 

Elvad looked troubled but he nodded. Tirion and Vashti were right. Aze touched his arm gently and he looked down into her face. 

“It’ll be alright. Jordan has blessed you both with more powers. Tirion could do this on her own, let alone with the rest of your blessed,” she said evenly. 

He nodded, thankful for the gentle words. Vashti and his sister were blunt and unsympathetic to his worries but Aze seemed like she truly cared. Her words allowed him to turn away from Tirion and follow Vashti down the mountain and into the range of caves that led to the forests of Bristal. There were many caves and they’d packed dried fruits and meats for the months they’d most likely spend hunting in the caves for those blessed by Delana. It was not only the safest place for them to be but also the most uncharted and Vashti was convinced they could find many blessed in hiding in the dark there. 

She was fearless and though Elvad would try to convince himself he was as well, he wasn’t. He’d done everything to free his sister and now he was going to try to make sure her place in Latva wouldn’t be questioned but he was scared. He was scared of the mountain range that left more questions than answers. He didn’t want to know what they’d find there. There weren’t many towns in Despori and Bristal. Some settlements that lived in the trees to be closer to the suns, but mostly it was people hiding in caves. Most were traffickers who hid their chained and held blessed there but some were poverty stricken families determined to hunt and live on their own. The money in Aze and Vashti’s packs would mean nothing there. Only jewels could be used for bartering. Vashti still wore her jewelry and tattoos like a badge but she’d removed her nicest pieces and stored them to deter desperate people from attacking them. 

“Why are the people in the caves better than those in Latva?” Aze asked as they descended the final mountain. The city line was marked by old lava stones stacked with the heavy, grey, bricks from the caves. As they crossed into the new land it was as if the smoke descended on them and the heat was beaten away by it. Aze shivered. 

“Better than?” Vashti asked, peering with slitted eyes into the dark crevices of the stones. The mountains around them held no lava but were even more ominous. They echoed with secrets. In Alyria even the most adventurous of hunters whispered about the caves and caverns of Despori. They said they held conceit and could kill a man as quickly as a river would revive him. Vashti was on her guard. This was uncharted land that they would be spending much time in, if she was right. She couldn’t let it overwhelm her on the first day.  

“You don’t want them to attack you. It’s not because you can’t defend yourself. So why are they better?” Aze explained the question. 

Elvad had been wondering the same thing and he looked over to hear the answer as well. Vashti shrugged, pulling a fur from her bag and wrapping it around her bare shoulders. 

“It’s not that they’re better. They’ve just run from that city living. They don’t have anything to do with hunters. Most of them out here just hide. They’ve already had it rough. They already know their place. I don’t need to tempt them into hurting themselves,” she said. 

“So as long as people already think they’re lesser, it’s okay?” Aze asked. 

Vashti peered into the smoke and nodded distractedly. “Yes. They know where they belong. I don’t need to make it worse for them. Now be quiet. This is a treacherous place to be. We need to find  place to camp and tomorrow in the morning we can start our search.” 

Aze looked properly chastised and nodded, looking around for a cave entrance that didn’t seem too deep. Elvad also began to search but Vashti was looking farther into the range. 

“This is too easy of a spot to find. Come on. We have to find somewhere deeper in,” she said. 

“Why?” Aze said desperately. The girl wasn’t quite ready to leave the relative comfort of the city line. She felt she could always rush back into Latva if need be. But if they moved too far into the mountains and closer to the forest they’d have nowhere to go. It was unknown. Dark and dank. Even those born of Oasis avoided this land. It felt foreign to even them. 

“Because if they break the line and move through Latva to hunt us we can’t be this close. We have to hide where they don’t know,” Vashti explained impatiently. 

“And where we don’t know?” Aze asked. 

Vashti could see the fear in the other woman and she stepped close to her. She brought her hands up to cradle Aze’s face and brought her own close.

“Listen to me,” she hummed softly, “We can do this. You’re god born. You’re powerful. You should fear nothing. Stop acting like a child. We don’t want to be caught and I need you with me. Take a deep breath and relax. You went down into the vaults. You can do this.” 

Aze closed her eyes and breathed deeply before nodding. Elvad too was feeling the loss of his home but he’d been away from it for so long it wasn’t hard for him to push back the longing and step deeper into the mountains. He didn’t look back as he walked past the two women and into the mountains.

“Come on,” he called back gruffly, “We want to find a place by nightfall.” 

Vashti nodded and turned to go. After a moment’s hesitation, Aze followed. She ignored the feeling that they were walking into danger, linking her fingers with Vashti’s as they walked. The siren squeezed her fingers but didn’t look over. They were on their way. 


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vashti and her group get to Despori. The head of the city watch meets her and the temple sirens switch sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot longer than the others, so hold on to your hats!

THE sirens from the temple of Syria had assembled. They stood in front of the head of the city watch, heads down and hands clasped, their tops bare and bottoms covered by red skirts. The men wore red pants of the same material and kept their gaze on the wall behind the watch men’s heads. 

“Working with sirens is easy,” the head of the watch, Rynek, explained to his men. They had called in the best of the watch as well as the hunting force to find Vashti and her accomplice. “You tell them where to go and what to do and they do it. Don’t be afraid. They will not turn on you. We’ve had a perfect success rate of working with them and I don’t expect any trouble here. Now. We are not trying to kill them. We have the traitor brands and have been sanctioned to first mark them, then bring them back here to be hanged in front of the people. Only if they put up a fight do we harm them. Is this clear?” 

He let the “yes sir!” wash over him before nodding and going on. “We have intelligence that it’s a woman and an accomplice. Most likely a sun siren. Be careful with him. Their powers can be raw and unpredictable. We have also heard that they will harm you without thought or care. Do not hesitate. If your life is in danger, kill them.”

Once more they chorused back at him and he nodded in satisfaction. 

“It’s a four day walk to the main gates of Latva. Let’s move out!” 

 

THE drums of warning sounded before the men had crested the hill. Tirion stood on the top of the first volcano. The one she’d crawled from nearly a month before. It had been a week since Vashti and her brother had walked down and out of her city. She put her hands on her hips. 

“Let some through,” she told the two sirens next to her. The two young men looked at her in surprise. 

 

“Miss?” one said hesitantly. 

She turned and traced a fingernail along a scar on his cheek. 

“I want them to see him. Let some through. Don’t worry. I trust in my brother. And in Vashti. May the gods help us win today. May Latva burn forever under our reign. Now go. The drums are sounding. It’s time to prove to our god that we are worth the power he feeds us,” she said. 

The two nodded, rushing down the hill. Tirion looked up at the sky. 

“Time to prove to me you’re worth my faith,” she said. “Jordan, I pray that you stand with us. Stand with your people. It’s truly about time you did.” 

A shiver of power ran up her spine at the words and she grinned. Flames flared from her fingertips and then from the ends of her hair. A fiery crown formed above her head without her willing it to. She grinned. 

“Amen,” she said. 

 

THEY’D sent in the watch first. The watch leader was proud of his men. They were good fighters. But they hadn’t been trained to fight lava. The forces of nature were things they simply didn’t know how to battle. When the first wave of cooled lava reheated and splattered so they screamed and cried, he made the rest of his men hold. Even as the first wave died to children with flames in their eyes, they held. 

“Sir?” his second asked hesitantly. 

“We will wait,” he said through gritted teeth, “We need to get the sirens through. We will wait.”

Before him, his men died painfully as the people of the city had before them. As the news spread through the sun sirens that they were to let some through, they let up and waited. They wouldn’t leave their gates. But they could wait. 

“Let the sirens through,” Tirion’s second passed along, “Let them through. They belong to Vashti now.” 

Vashti was their inspiration. They’d knelt to her and for her. For the land she had promised them and to the power she clearly held. They would fight for her and they would let the sirens through to find her if it was what she wanted. The sirens of Latva stood by as the sand sirens of the temple passed through. They watched, knowing what was to come. 

 

“WE all have to go in. We need the sirens to get through so we all have to rush. It’s the only way,” Rynek  said.

“Sir….maybe we should go back,” his second said. He looked over. 

“No,” he said sharply, “We can do this. Latva needs to be freed. There are still small settlements in the range. We need to get to them before the sirens here kill them and before the traitors get too far. We’ll go in. Put the sirens in the front. They might be able to fight the fire. I’ll keep with them as will section 3. The rest of you will fan out. Try to distract them so we can get up the hill. Once we’re through, turn back. They’ll most likely blow the volcano to keep us out of the city. I’ll try to free the settlements as we go but tell the chancellor what happened here. He can evaluate. When we return with the traitors we can deal with this.” 

His second nodded, though his doubt clouded his eyes. Still, they went in. Section 3, smaller, faster, men with a different set of skills, followed the sirens as they through sand as weapons. The sun sirens fell back to the attack. Though capable of killing the sand sirens in front of them, they would honor what Tirion had asked of them and what Vashti had told them. Blessed lives needed to be offered freedom before they died. It was not their place to do so. 

So the siren platoon made their way up the volcano. No one stood in their way. Stopping only when they met Tirion, the crown still burning above her head. 

“You’re in charge here?” Rynek asked. He was surprised. Tirion was young and looked it with her soft face and still full cheeks. But she only smiled. 

“I am,” she agreed. 

“But you’re a child,” he said. The sirens around him didn’t move, nor did his men.

“Not too much of a child to be forced to hide in this volcano for months at a time. Not too much of a child to be sold for labor. I’m not a child. Not anymore,” she said. 

“Did the traitor promise you this?” he asked. 

She nodded. 

“She can’t. A city isn’t hers to give. You’ve killed a whole city. How many people will you kill to get what you want? Do you want to be a murderer?” he asked, trying to plead with her. 

Her eyes went blank and she sneered. “They were only human,” she said flatly, “Who cares what happens to them?” 

He looked shocked. “We’re all human,” he said. 

“No,” she shook her head, “I’m blessed. You’re nothing. All those men you just got killed, do you think the gods will take them? Or will they simply fester in the Earth? Trapped? Gone forever? No one cares what happens to you. The gods care for me, though. Latva belongs to us now. I didn’t kill those men down there. You did. As for the city…..there wasn’t an innocent among them. I’m not a murderer, I’m a revolutionary.” 

“What hate is this traitor spewing?” he said desperately, more to himself than to her. 

“Go find her. Find out for yourself,” Tirion challenged. 

“What?” he asked dumbly. 

“I’m not here to stop you. I’m here to warn you. Behind me is the rest of Latva. The people are either dead or gone. They’ve either hidden in Despori or we killed them. There’s nothing left for you here. And ‘the traitor?’ she told me to let you through. So go find her if you think anything good will come of it. If not, go back the way you came and tell your people what happened here. Tell them not to come back. This city is ours. This world will be ours. And you’ll all burn,” Tirion said. As she spoke the fire in her crown flared and it exploded outward so they turned and covered their eyes. 

When Rynek turned back she was gone, her laughter in the wind. After a moment he nodded and motioned for his people to follow. They would continue on, just as Tirion had hoped. She watched them go from behind a wall of smoke and smiled. Below them, in the city port, his army burned. 

 

IT took a lot longer for the information to get to Alyria about the battle at Latva. The simple reason being that most of the army was dead. After the head of the watch had rushed in the others had tried to fall back but the sirens were vicious. They tore the human army apart ruthlessly until only  a few injured were left. They let those ones go but three of the five died on the trek through the desert and it took the rest five extra days to drag themselves to the shining gates of Alyria. By that time they didn’t know if the sirens of Alyria or the head of the watch were still alive. They told the chancellor and the councilmen who looked troubled and retired to their rooms to think of plans. Vashti’s father stared out the window the longest, thinking about what he could have done to change his daughter’s path. 

 

VASHTI, Aze, and Elvad had found a cave that suited their needs deeper into the range of stone. 

“I liked Latva better,” Aze said stiffly as she laid out some bedding and the furs she’d collected with Vashti. 

“So did I,” Elvad said. 

“And I like Alyria. Yet we’re here,” Vashti said as she too rolled out her furs. 

“When do you think we’ll find someone?” Aze asked. 

“When they want us to. No doubt they’ve already seen us. I think the hunters are father in, closer to the wood line so they can hunt for food as well. But the people hidden here have seen us. When they’re ready, if they ever are, they’ll find us. Maybe they’ll tell us some things. But first we need to prove we aren’t here to hurt them and that we aren’t hunters looking to take their children. Some families come to Despori to hide their blessed children. They need to know we don’t want to take them away,” Vashti explained. 

“So we’re just going to sit here and wait?” Elvad asked incredulously. It didn’t seem like it fit Vashti’s plan but the woman only smiled. 

“For a while. We’ll go outside. We’ll make ourselves known. Maybe even take this time to work with our powers and see how we can mix them and work together in a fight. We have time. Latva isn’t going to fall and once I’ve taken care of the unit that Tirion let through, Alyria will need to regroup. We have time. We need to find not only those blessed by Delana but also Brisa. They’re known to hide in the woods. Hard to catch because they can become air themselves but I simply wish to speak with them. This is going to take time.”

“Tirion let a group through?” Elvad asked incredulously. 

 

Vashti nodded, scratching at the tight braids against her head. “Yes. I told her to. I knew Alyria would send their best. I wanted one of those to see me. The rest don’t matter but I need them to go home. To tell my father that it’s me doing this. It wouldn’t be fair to the city to not warn them at least a little bit.” 

She said the last bit a little too innocently and Aze looked at her through slitted eyes. 

“You’re plotting something,” she said. 

Vashti nodded but didn’t divulge it. Instead she stepped into the mouth of the cave and inhaled deeply. 

“The winds are changing,” she said. In the breeze she could feel energy and she knew. Soon enough they would come to find her. And soon enough she would be building her army. 

 

_ YOU sent her on an adventure and now she’s taking over the world.  What does this mean for the rest of us? And what will it mean when once more, she fails?  _ Jordan asked his lover. Syria snorted. 

_ I sent her on an adventure she was never going to understand. And yet she rose to an occasion I didn’t think to offer her. She can do this. She isn’t like the others. Morality is low in her. She’s truly mine. I wish she’d been born of me but she’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to feeling like I have a child. As for all of you, it’s good. Imagine a world where we’re equals. Not so afraid of one another but instead making them afraid of us. We’ve let our blessed suffer for too long. She’s right. We need to help them. Latva is only the start. Your children….don’t you feel their joy? They’ve prayed in this past month more than they ever have before and you grow stronger. Yes, she is mine and their pledge to her helps me, but they are also coming back to those who gave them such gifts to begin with. Imagine a world where we’re the rulers, not those pitiful things who have nothing but life in their veins. And if she fails? Well then we try again. It’s not like we’re running out time.  _ Syria explained. 

_ You can call the others, then. Explain this to them so they know what is coming.  _ Jordan said firmly and Syria laughed. 

_ Oh darling, I already did.  _

 

IT took seven days for the troop of sirens and the head of the watch to get through Latva’s volcano range. They jumped at every sound but nothing followed them. And there was nothing in front of them, either.  Tirion hadn’t been lying to them. They found only ransacked houses with marks of hasty exits. Some with bodies burned slumped across tables or beds. The sun sirens had reclaimed their land for good. Rynek, knew that no human would ever step foot in this city again, even if they did win it back. Too much death here. It stunk of decay. No person would ever be able to ignore that scent. It made his nose scrunch up and his men seemed to be losing vigor as they moved farther out. He was anxious to reach the crude city line between Latva and Despori if only for a respite  from the bubbling mountain tops. 

“Sir, the city line is right over that mountain. But it’s getting dark. Should we set up camp?” 

Rynek peered into the dulling light. He lived in the first layer of the lower city of Alyria. He was used to true darkness. The darkness of the surface was nothing. He shook his head. 

“No. We’ll camp in the caves beyond the city line. Keep going,” he said. 

His men seemed relieved as did the group of sirens with them. Against the odds the sirens had stayed quiet. At night they prayed and in the morning they greeted the sun with the customary dance of sand but they hardly spoke and if they did, it was to one another. Rynek wondered who they would have been had they not been born cursed. 

“Don’t they seem quiet to you?” he asked his second for the fourth time in their travels. 

“Sir….wouldn’t you be?” his second asked.

“What do you mean?” Rynek asked. 

“I just….they’re cursed. The gods might think it’s a gift but they’re hated. They know it. So they stay quiet. Because in the end we hold all the power. If I was born like that, I’d stay quiet too,” his second said almost guiltily. 

“They call it blessed,” Rynek commented, though he understood where his second was coming from. 

“But it isn’t, is it?” his second said, shaking his head. “I feel bad for them.” 

They looked over, staring at the women and men in red, pity welling in them. 

“Well. We have to move on. Let’s go.” 

 

“THERE,” Vashti said on the morning Rynek and his group passed the stone wall. 

“How do you know?” Aze asked. They were deep into the range and had been for days. They’d been practicing using their powers in conjunction with one another and she was throwing hallucinations over Elvad’s face so he looked like a high official, as she spoke. 

“I can feel it. It’s in the wind. I think Brisa’s people are helping us. They aren’t ready to speak with us but they’re here,” Vashti explained. 

“How can you know that?” Elvad asked irritably. The cold and dark was getting to him. Even out in the open the suns were scarce, as if the mountains themselves scared them away.  

“Can’t you tell? The energy is different sometimes. And it’s just shifted. They’re here. It’s only a matter of time before they get this far. And Aze, I want you to help me with something,” Vashti said.

Aze looked up and dropped the face she’d been placing over Elvad’s. “Yes?”

“First I want you to undo my hair. It’s cold here, I need my hair to be free, not tied tight to my scalp. Then I want you to practice throwing the face of the goddess over mine,” Vashti said. 

“But no one’s seen the goddess,” Aze protested. 

“I want you to project the ideal. The same way you did with the ice nation children. They all saw someone different. I want those who find us to see the goddess when they look at me. They want us to be ashamed of what we are but I’m not. I will show them that,” Vashti said dangerously. 

“I can try,” Aze allowed, thinking over what she’d need to do.

“Good. Now come help me. These braids are so tight, it hurts,” Vashti said briskly. 

Elvad watched as Vashti knelt, her right ankle overlapping her left as she sat back. She had her hands folded in her lap and she was as still as the stones around them as Aze unwrapped the ties that held the long braids together. He knew that Aze could feel the change in energy now. It wasn’t coming from the wind but from Vashti herself. This was a moment of trust. He had heard and even seen the two women make love before but this was more intimate. The trust it entailed was absolute, especially to a woman like Vashti who believed herself to be an island. He knew he had also gained trust in strides but Aze was the one Vashti leaned on. She probably didn’t even notice it. It was easy for things like that to sneak up on a person. He knew from experience. His parents had been like that. They’d edged people out but just when it seemed like they had it all under control, someone would slip in. They’d suddenly taken on caring for everyone. It hadn’t ended well for them. But Aze was strong. Maybe even stronger than Vashti. She would be the best shield for the woman leading them. 

When Aze’s fingers began to unwind the first braid, Vashti’s eyes fluttered shut. She had marked most of her own body. The only other person who had touched her had been a servant. One only motivated to keep her own life. This was the first touch of someone who cared, he was sure. And he watched, feeling like a voyeur to their intimacy but unable to look away. 

“You have beautiful hair,” Aze said softly as she combed out the braid with her fingers. 

“My mother called it a mane. Wild and too hard to tame. She forced it into the braids when I was a child. I never thought about freeing it. It simply became easier,” Vashti said defensively. 

“My mother hated that I kept my hair down. You know how most of those above the surface shave their heads? I wouldn’t. I’d always been vane about my hair. But I fought to keep it. Until the day she kicked me out, I kept it. And then I let it be free. I never tied it up. You deserve to be free, too,” Aze told the other woman. She spoke gently as if Vashti might run if she spoke too loudly. 

“I am free,” Vashti said. 

“Yes,” Aze agreed. She worked the second braid out, massaging the top of Vashti’s scalp with the tips of her fingers. 

They stayed quiet through the next four braids. Aze met Elvad’s eyes at one point and smiled sadly. The lives they had lived weren’t like others. They were filled with sadness and discontent and above all a humiliation. Vashti had risen above that as much as she could but some things were hard to let go of. As Aze released Vashti’s hair and a kinky wave of dark hair began to form, Elvad could see the truth of who Vashti was finally breaking free. 

He came and sat in front of her. 

“Tell me about Jordan,” he requested. “I don’t know much. In Latva….well you saw it. We hid. We didn’t want to know our god. It felt like a curse more than anything. The normal people, the ones without power, could live in the city like nothing could go wrong. They spent money. They traded goods. They laughed aloud without worry. But we never got to know that. My father was blessed. My mother wasn’t. But her heart bled for all of us. So when she bore three children, all blessed, she was both happy and scared. She knew what our lives were like but still, she thought it honored the gods. When they killed my smallest sister she lost a bit of who she was. It wasn’t long until they came for her. We never laughed again. We hid in the range with the others but my father….he was broken. There was nothing left. They’d taken his youngest and his wife. He let them kill him. Not for any gain for us but just because. I hated Jordan for it. For allowing it. For cursing us to a fate that seemed worse than death. I almost let them take me many times before they caught me. Tirion kept me sane but I was close to the edge. So tell me. Tell me the good things. I can feel him in me now but I don’t even know how to feel the joy. I don’t know how to do what you do. I don’t know how to pray.” 

Vashti opened her eyes and for once, they were clear when they looked at him. He knew she was suspicious of his motives. He knew she wasn’t sure what to think of him yet. But this question was one she respected. He wanted to learn. 

“Jordan is the lover to Syria. He’s strong. Powerful. It’s said he made the sun and when he saw how bright it was, he made two more. He’s bright. I like to think of him as the sun itself. He burns. But I know just like Syria he’s afraid of a war among the gods. So he allows what’s happened to us. But you….he gave you such beauty. Don’t you think the fire is beautiful?” Vashti asked, her clear eyes drinking in Elvad so he felt naked before her. 

“It always felt like a curse,” he confessed. She shook her head slightly so the hair around her hair puffed out more. 

“Not how it felt. How  _ you  _ felt. Don’t you think it’s beautiful? When you let yourself just feel it?” she asked. 

Elvad blinked. He’d never thought about it but now when he did he knew that he loved the power he’d been given. He didn’t love what it meant for him in this world but he did love how it felt. Especially now when the power crackled roughly in his blood and felt like it could burst out of his eyes if he tried. 

“It’s….it’s more than anything ever has been,” he said, unsure if she would understand. But Aze chuckled and Vashti smiled and suddenly something slotted into place. This could be his family. They understood. Maybe even more than Tirion did. She had hidden most of her life but they had been abused. They could understand why he loved and hated what he was. When he smiled back it was as if the trust he’d been so desperately trying to win was finally was in his grasp. It was real and solid and he could squeeze it if he tried. 

He wanted to kiss her. Not for any gain but just out of joy. To prove to himself he was still alive and to prove to her that he didn’t need to want something from her. When his eyes met Aze’s he could see that she understood. Vashti had given something back to both of them. It was something they hadn’t known they’d lost but were eternally grateful to have back. He didn’t lean in. She wasn’t his to take. At least not yet. Instead, he smiled more deeply. 

“Tell me more,” he said, his thirst to know his god palpable. 

She laughed. “I can’t. I’m afraid I don’t know much about him. I know who he’s supposed to be. I know who he is to Syria. But other than that, I can’t tell you much. I think you’d need to ask him yourself.”

“The gods don’t talk to many people. Believe me, I know,” Aze said. 

“But if you pray…..if you love them like they loved your soul when it was first born….they come to you. I’ve clung to Syria. When the other sirens ran to the temples I ran to Syria herself. I let myself be free in my love of her. That's what you need to do. I know you might not be able to right now but it’s like I told Aze. You bow to no one. You kneel because you choose to. So choose. Choose him and choose this fight. Because he showed faith when he gave you more power. Show him you deserve it,” Vashti said. 

Aze had released most of Vashti’s hair at this point and it looked as if the right side of her head had rebelled against the fine rows of the left. Elvad shook his head. 

“How do I deserve something I’m not sure I know how to love?” he asked.

Vashti smiled. “That’s easy. Gods take. When they give, it’s special. So don’t think of it like a gift. Think of it like something you took. Something you took that they let you keep. You might not know how to love it but they do and they let you keep it. View it as a prize. Soon enough you’ll see it.” 

Aze pushed her fingers through the last tightly wound group of hair and Vashti sighed. She hadn’t even noticed how tight it had felt until it was let go. She slouched back and Aze caught her, once again awed at the trust showed to her. 

“You have no markings on your arms,” Aze commented into the skin of Vashti’s neck. 

“I couldn’t make them match. And anyway, they mean I’m linked to Syria. I wouldn’t mark myself again unless it was to tie myself to another person,” Vashti said, tracing patterns on Aze’s arms. 

“In marriage?” Aze asked breathlessly. 

“More than that. Better. The markings mean I’m tied to Syria. It would have to hold the same weight with another person,” Vashti sounded tired, her voice fading away. It was as if the release of her hair had left her exhausted and she slouched back even more until her head was in Aze’s lap. Aze ran her fingers through Vashti’s hair. To see Vashti  like this made her chest swell. She looked up at Elvad who also looked shocked. 

“Let her sleep,” he said when Vashti turned, her eyes closed, and tucked her hand under Aze’s thigh, “She’s been going like crazy since she broke me from my chains. I can’t imagine she stopped before that either. When she found you was she as wired as she usually is?” 

“Yes,” Aze nodded. She was unable to help herself as she stroked Vashti’s hair. “She immediately saw through me but kept me anyway. I’m glad she let me in enough to get us here. She’s a force of nature.” 

“She is. If anyone could do this, it’s her,” Elvad said. 

“I think Syria thinks the same thing,” Aze commented. 

Elvad shook his head. “I don’t know how she does that. How do you love a goddess while everyone around you tells you it’s wrong. If she learned in a temple she must have seen what they did with them. She knew her parents didn’t want her….how did she turn out like this?”

“Cold? Unable to talk about emotions? Willing to kill all humans?” Aze asked with a smirk.

Elvad inclined his head. “Alright. I see your point. But she believes in us. And she still spoke to Syria like a friend. I don’t know if I could ever do that with Jordan.”

“Why don’t you try? It’s not like we have somewhere to be right now. Just try talking to him,” Aze offered. 

“Do you talk to your father?” he asked and she shook her head. 

“I used to when I was little but he never answered and my mother was cruel about it, so I stopped. I just never got back in the habit. Not really. I want him to see me for who I am, but I don’t really know how to speak to him,” she said. 

“Why don’t we both try?” Elvad said, the offer clearly one meant to build bridges. 

“I don’t know. I think it’s more likely you’ll hear from Jordan then I’ll hear from my father. I’ve at least tried. You never have,” Aze said. 

He blew out a sigh and looked down at the dirt of the cave. “I don’t even know where to start.

“Maybe ‘thank you for making me more powerful?’” Aze offered.

“That seems superfluous,” Elvad snorted.

“Big word,” Aze shot back.

“I’m not as stupid as both of you think,” he said. 

“I don’t think you’re stupid. I just don’t think you’re particularly smart,” Aze retorted. 

Elvad watched Vashti breath. “How did you get her to be okay with you?” he asked. “She’s something else. She’s like no one else I’ve ever met and she just gives herself to you. I haven’t seen trust like that since my mother with my father. Their trust was beautiful. But it got them both killed.” 

“I didn’t get her to be anything. She just did. It’s a balance. Checks in the right column, you know. And then someday it’s like it just clicked into place. I didn’t have to pretend she wasn’t beautiful and she didn’t pretend anything at all. I think I just interested her. I can’t tell you how to do that. Other than maybe stop being so exhaustingly average. You’re such a….man. And I know there has to be more in you than that. Show her. Maybe she’ll let you in too,” Aze said. 

They both watched their leader sleep, her hair thick and frizzy after years of being tied up. Elvad laid back and looked at the ceiling of the cave. He hadn’t slept well since they’d crossed into Despori but he knew they had many more months of this. Not just in Despori but in the forests of Bristal and maybe even into the unclaimed lands around Alyria. They would probably try to find all those who bore the powers of a god. He needed to pace himself. 

“How do you be free?” he asked softly. 

Aze, who had also laid back with Vashti’s head on her legs, rolled her head to the side to look at him. 

“You just….do it. One day you realize the suns are still rising and that no one is expecting anything of you. And it’s beautiful. I cried the first time I felt it. I could run or I could sleep or I could hunt. I could do anything and no one would yell or kick me or bend me to their will. It just happens. You learn how to be yourself on your own without someone else forcing you to be defined by their ideas. It’s not something you learn. It’s something you gain and one day you’ll just know. It might be tomorrow or it it might be in a few years. I hope it’s sooner,” Aze said honestly. 

“It seems like she’s always been free,” Elvad said with a small smile. 

“I think your sister seems like that. Even though it isn’t true. I think some people just seem more trapped while others fill the cage with their wings so you can’t see the bars at all,” Aze said. 

“I think she’s beautiful, but maybe that’s why,” he said thoughtfully.

Aze began to giggle. “Or it’s because she’s decorated her body for that exact reason. She  _ is  _ beautiful.”

“It was like that at first. Obviously. But now?” he sighed in frustration. 

“You and her. You both don’t know what to do with feelings. It would be funny if it wasn’t sad,” Aze chuckled. 

“You love her, is that funny too?” Elvad said crossly. 

“A little bit. I can laugh at myself and my own stupidity,” Aze said. 

“Love is stupid?” Elvad asked, curious as to what the sweet young woman truly thought. 

“Loving someone who will never say it back is stupid. But I’ve never been the smartest when it came to that. For a long time I deluded myself into thinking that my father loved me. Maybe I’m deluding myself when I think she just might too,” Aze said. 

“She does. You’re right that she’ll never say it but  if I spoke to her or touched her the way you do, she’d kill me. There’s no love lost there,” Elvad sighed. 

“She doesn’t trust you yet. But she might want to lie with you,” Aze smirked. 

Elvad’s eyebrows raised. “And you know that for sure?” 

“I do. But I’m not telling you how. You need to figure that mess out for yourself. I can’t do everything for everyone,” Aze said. 

“You and my sister….I bet you could if you really wanted to,” he said. 

“Shut up,” Vashti murmured as she rolled over, tucking her arm under her head, “I’m sleeping.” 

Aze covered her mouth to stop her giggle and Elvad flushed, flipping onto his side. After a moment in the silence, Aze spoke again. 

“You’ll feel free soon enough,” she promised, “And maybe then you’ll speak to Jordan. I think maybe then you’ll understand.” 

Elvad didn’t respond but he was comforted by the words. He fell asleep deeply for the first time in weeks, dreaming not of chains but of running. 

 

VASHTI was practicing moving sand dunes under her feet when the wind changed again. It had been three more days since she’d felt the energy shift and she stopped moving, her head cocking gently to the side. 

_ Show your worth, darling….. _

She grinned at her goddess’ voice in her mind and then turned to look back to where the cave was. She didn’t have time to call them so instead she let out a bird’s call, the sign she and Aze had figured out to keep them in the loop with one another. It might not get to Aze in time but it would warn them. If things didn’t go the way she hoped they could at least hide. Turning, she waited to face them head on. 

Rynek was surprised to see the siren standing in the middle of a clearing. Around them the rocks were building upward but she was slightly above them on a sand dune, smirking. 

“It’s about time,” she said, “I’ve been waiting for weeks.” 

“You’ve been….” he trailed off as he looked into her face. He couldn’t be surprised. Not by the amusement in her face and the intelligence in her eyes. She had orchestrated all of it and was unapologetic. 

“Waiting. Yes. The goddess doesn’t like to be kept waiting and neither do I,” Vashti said. 

“Are you going to impress me with your logic? I’ve heard that’s how you operate,” he said. 

“I’m not going to impress you. I’m going to impress them,” she said, gesturing to the sirens behind him. 

Rynek snorted but his men looked nervous, shifting their weight from foot to foot. Vashti only smirked. 

“Do you think that will be hard for me?” she asked serenely. 

“I think it will be impossible,” he replied. 

She looked to her left. Hidden in the rocks was Aze. She’d come. The call had done the trick. 

“Very well,” Vashti sighed, “Send them forward if you think they won’t be charmed by me. I’d like to prove my point.” 

The men murmured but Rynek only nodded. He believed in his own truth. That the sirens would know who they should serve. He never thought they would think any differently. So the sirens shifted to the front of them line, their eyes lowered. Aze cast the net of hallucination over Vashti so when she called to them and they looked up, all they saw was what they thought of as the goddess. 

It had the desired effect. The first row of sirens fell to their knees while those behind them simply stared. 

“I know it isn’t your fault,” Vashti started. “What they’ve done to you and what they’ve made you. But I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to bow anymore. Not to them. You will bow only to the goddess and she will show you she is good. I am wearing her face as you see her. Isn’t she beautiful?” 

One of the sirens began to weep and Rynek shifted his weight, no longer comfortable with his choice. 

“I want you to rise up. Syria wants you to rise up. No longer will you be dolls. Toys, whores…..no longer will you be used by them. You are stronger. You are more powerful. Haven’t you wanted to hurt them for this? I know some of you came from below the surface and it seems like a blessing. But what they’ve given you isn’t. Your power is your blessing and you’re squandering it. When you greet the sun you should be greeting her as well and though you say you are, you’re insulting her. Your monks? They’re old. They too have been broken and harmed by the rules they’ve been forced to follow. Their spines are bent. You shall not listen to them anymore. You shall only listen to me and to Syria. Kneel to me. Kneel to her. And you’ll see a bright new world where you no longer need to be afraid.”

Vashti knelt in front of the weeping girl and lifted her chin. Her skin wasn’t as golden as Vashti’s. She had tanned over years of living above the surface, not from being bred into it. She’d been given to the temple from a lower family. Vashti cursed the social construct her untalented city had created as she cradled this girl’s face. She knew Aze was watching. She hoped Elvad was as well. 

“Did they use you?” she asked fiercely. 

The girl didn’t hesitate in nodding. 

“Who? Anyone here?” Vashti asked, looking back at what was left of the human squad. The men trembled under her gaze. 

The girl nodded once more. 

“Which one?” 

The girl’s head turned and she stared at Rynek’s second. Rynek looked surprised. The man had showed such disgust for the sirens. He was the last person Rynek would have thought. Yet the man shook and paled as the group of sirens turned to look at him. 

“Him,” she whispered, “He….paid….for me. I’m….I’m the youngest. Of...of all of us. He liked that. He paid for me. Even when I said no.” 

Anger tore through Vashti and she stood. Aze hardened the face of the goddess, fascinated that to her, it was the same as Vashti’s own. She watched as the sand siren’s lip curled. 

“Kill him,” she said flatly. “Kill them all. All but their leader. Show them who you are. Who she made you to be.” 

At first the sirens stared back at Vashti but as the goddess’ face laid over her own she could see their resolve begin to harden. They could see it in her. The lack of shame. The fierce determination. And for once, they could see true hope. For many years they’d been lost to the temples. To the pain and the humiliation. Vashti stood before them, not lost but proud and their cracked hearts responded to her war call.

It was the young girl who moved first. Each siren carried a bag of sand. It became their weapon of choice as well as their tribute to the morning light. She emptied out the bag and curled her hand, a single strand of sand rising to her chest level. 

“No….Beteste….” the man shook his head and stepped back with his hands up, “No. You serve us. I order you to stop. Kneel. Submit.” 

Vashti scoffed. Even in the face of his death he couldn’t beg, only try to control. The other sirens watched and the humans, men who had never seen their world fall apart so completely, stared in horror as Beteste stepped forward. Rage was pink in her cheeks and she snarled, her young and pretty face twisting. 

“I will submit no longer,” she said. 

That thin line of sand could have easily sliced open his chest. It could have ripped him limb from limb while he howled. But instead it moved finely through his neck as if his bones and muscles were nothing. One moment he was blubbering and then next his head slid from his body. There was a moment in which the goddess crowed, the sirens saw a new world before their eyes, and the humans watched the sky turn upside down. The moment between his head hitting the ground and his body following suit. That moment decided the next and it was with great victory Vashti watched the sirens claim their true destiny. 

There weren’t enough men for each siren to have one. She would think about that for a long time to come. Not enough men to come close to subduing them had they decided to fight back. And if they hadn’t met her, they never would have. But people had become complacent. So when the sirens turned on them, the men didn’t know what to do. How to fight it. And it seemed the group of sirens knew which ones deserved the worst death and who deserved to give it. Vashti watched a tall and thick man step back so a delicately boned woman could use a hand made of sand to rip the heart out of a soldier. She watched them beat the men only to step back for a single death blow to be given by another. Only one man went untouched besides the head of the watch and she cocked her head as the violence stilled.  Blood soaked into the dirt below their feet. Not even a whisper carried across the sky. The death of the watch was absolute. 

“What of him?” she asked, gesturing to the man left standing.  

“He has a siren daughter,” Beteste said, “And he refuses to give her to the temple. He can’t stomach how we’re treated. We can’t stomach killing him.” 

Vashti nodded. She stepped in front of him. He didn’t flinch. He met her gaze. 

“A new world is rising,” she said, “Will you stand with me?” 

“I have prayed to Syria since the day I was born, high lady,” he said unflinchingly. 

“Why?” she asked. 

“My father was born of Jordan. Not in Latva but in the uncharted desert. He was free. My mother hunted with those from Alyria. Her shame was her love for him. His shame was his love for a goddess he couldn’t reach. He wished to lie with Syria but it never happened. I was not blessed and their shared shame was their joy in that. I felt joy when my daughter first showed her powers. My shame is I could not change the world for her. I will stand with you, high lady. For my father, who was enslaved, and for my daughter, who shouldn’t be,” he said bravely. 

Vashti smiled. 

“Do you know your place?” she asked. 

He knelt. “It is at your feet, high lady.”

“Very good,” Vashti purred. “Now what do you think of your commander? Will he learn his place?” 

“I don’t know,” the man admitted, “Rynek is a good man by the standards we have set. But I suspect yours is different.” 

“What is good? What makes  _ you  _ think he is one?” Vashti asked.

“He has never tried to persuade me to give up my daughter. He has never touched a siren unwillingly. He leads his men unflinchingly. He is strong,” the man said readily.

“We should be proud that he’s never paid to harm us? That he doesn’t expect you to hand over your child?” 

The sirens, covered in the blood of Rynek’s men, watched quietly. They would not stand for or against him and Rynek felt the weight of judgement heavily on his shoulders. 

“Just kill me,” he said, “Kill me and get it done with.” 

“Who said anything about killing you?” Vashti asked. 

“I won’t turn on Alyria. Not like this traitor. I won’t kneel. So just kill me,” Rynek said. 

Vashti tipped her head to the right and began to grin. “No. I have a better fate for you, Rynek of Alyria. I will need to pray on it but I think I have a better fate. Come. Tie him up. I’ll show you where we’ve been staying. Then tomorrow you’ll go back, all of you.” She looked at the sirens who watched her unflinchingly. “Go back to the temple and pretend it’s all fine. Tell them I killed your men and you ran. When I come home and call for you, you’ll know it’s your time. And in the meantime kill who you can when you can without getting caught. Break them from the inside. Pray to the goddess and she will help you, I promise.” 

Aze snuck back to the cave where Elvad was waiting. She made it there before Vashti did and grinned at Elvad. 

“How did it go?” he asked. 

“Beautifully. She’s on her way back with the sirens and two others. I think they’re staying the night,” Aze replied. 

“You look ready to fuck,” he commented. 

 

“She is….magnificent,” Aze said and Elvad laughed. 

“That she is, spit fire. Be careful. You aren’t so good with burns.” 

Aze scoffed as Vashti crested the small hill before the cave. All thoughts left Aze’s mind as she saw Vashti’s hair now long and puffed about her head. She let her eyes travel downward along Vashti’s many piercings and the markings of her prayers. She watched the sway of the other woman’s hips. Vashti looked triumphant and Aze couldn’t have stopped her legs if she’d wanted to. She plowed forward and threw herself at Vashti just as the sirens and two men came into view. Vashi caught her and Aze wound her legs around Vashti’s waist. The sand siren laughed. 

“My oasis,” she said warmly, “You did beautifully.” 

“No, you,” Aze denied. 

“Why can’t we both have performed well?” Vashti asked, her voice very nearly fond. 

“Because it’s you. The catalyst. The reason I’m even here, proving I can do all of this. You did more than beautifully. Now come. Take me to bed. Let Elvad take care of them. I want to….congratulate you,” Aze said breathlessly. 

Rynek looked away but the sirens drank it in. They had not been touched in such gentle manners in their lives. Even when a client was kind they could not forget the grime money left behind. To love for the sake of it, for the joy and the raw passion, it fueled their hope for a new world. Aze turned heated blue eyes on them and grinned slowly. 

“I’m Aze. Born of Oasis. I’ll introduce myself better later but right now I need to borrow our fearless leader. You don’t mind?” 

It was Beteste who answered, shaking her head and looking on in awe. 

“No. Go,” she said and Aze grinned wider before tightening her legs around Vashti and nipping at her neck. 

“Behave,” Vashti said, her palm smacking flat along Aze’s upper thigh. 

“Oh now. You like it better when I don’t,” Aze purred. 

Vashti only chuckled darkly and turned, her eyes a deep chocolate. 

“Elvad, tie up the head of the watch. I need to pray,” she said. Aze kicked her heel into Vashti’s leg, causing the woman to stumble slightly. 

“Pray?” he asked in amusement. 

“Any form of passion can be a prayer,” Vashi said before disappearing with Aze to the back of the cave. They could be heard shrieking and giggling as Elvad stepped forward to greet the sirens. 

“I’m Elvad. I’m probably the one you were hunting so congratulations, you caught me,” he joked. “There’s room for everyone if you don’t mind all kind of bunking together. Now which one is the head of the watch?” 

They all looked to Rynek as a breathy gasp was heard from the back of the cave. 

“Ignore them. This happens a lot,” Elvad said apologetically. 

“Are they….together?” one of the sirens asked eagerly. 

“You don’t see the blessed together often,” another added. 

“Yes but that’s usually because we die young,” Elvad said sarcastically. 

“And we feel cursed,” Beteste said softly. 

Elvad looked at her and his gaze softened. “Did you meet Tirion?” 

The girl cocked her head. 

“My sister,” he clarified, “The new ruler of Latva.” 

“The girl with the fire crown? We saw her,” she answered. 

“We used to hide in the volcanoes and I did everything I could to keep her safe there. Which is how Vashti found me. She helped me save my sister and raise Latva to what it could be. Now my sister will rule there. Jordan has blessed us both for what we’ve done. We aren’t cursed. I know it’s hard to believe that. I have a hard time believing that most days. But our luck is changing. And you made the right choice. Aze and Vashti are together. They’re unashamed of who they are. I think we should all try to join them in that,” he said kindly. 

His words were punctuated by a high pitched cry and he rolled his eyes. 

“Come in. They’ll be done in the next hour or so,” he said. 

The sirens filed in, not bothered at all by the cries. To them they signaled a new world and they revelled in each noise the couple made. 

 

WHEN their bodies had stilled and the panting had died down, Aze traced the marks on Vashti’s chest. 

“You know you call her every time you do that,” Vashti said without opening her eyes. 

“What?” Aze’s fingers stopped. 

“Yes. She comes. Purrs to me. She thinks you’re amusingly wonderful,” Vashti hummed. 

“I’ve been calling the goddess every time we’ve lain together?” Aze asked, stupefied. 

“Yes. She likes it. Are you embarrassed?” Vashti asked, propping up onto one elbow to look over at Aze. 

“Yes!” Aze nearly shouted, “Why didn’t you mention it before?” 

“It didn’t hurt anyone. And we both enjoyed it. Why would I take that away?” Vashti asked. 

Aze settled, thinking about those words. “Does it count as my prayer or yours?” 

“I’m not sure,” Vashti said thoughtfully. 

“I might have been praying to your goddess?” 

“Maybe. Is that so bad? She’s been kind to you.” 

Aze pushed Vashti away gently. “Go pray. I’ll stay here and….apologize to my father. Praying to Syria. No wonder he’s been ignoring me.” 

“Yes, because that’s the reason,” Vashti said, rolling her eyes. She tucked her feet under her and leaned back, breathing deeply as she traced the lines of her tattoos. 

_ So tell me, darling Vashti, what is this grand fate for the head of the watch?  _

Syria sounded amused and Vashti felt the sand around her shift to touch the bite marks on her ankles. Vashti shook her foot and heard her goddess laugh. 

“Bless him,” Vashti said simply. Syria stopped laughing and even Aze looked over at her. 

_ You want me to give him what he so hates in the world? I’ve seen him. He’s dark on the inside. _

“Yes. I want you to do what he thinks of as a curse. I want you to give him the thing he wants least in the world and make him live with it. The shame of it. What he’s so high above. If he dies he goes nowhere. If he lives like us….well he’ll either join us or go mad. Either way, I’m happy with the outcome. Wouldn’t you be?” Vashti asked. 

Syria was quiet for a moment but just as Vashti wondered if she’d offended the goddess, she heard the response. 

_ It’s done you delightfully evil creature. I do love your ideas. He’ll be tortured forever. I don’t think he’s noticed yet. Call me when he does. I want to see him cry.  _

Vashti laughed at Syria’s glee and agreed to call her when he found out. She then turned to Aze. 

“You turned him into one of us?” Aze asked. 

“Yes. The thing he finds the most sad. The most repulsive. He’s one of us now. And either way, this is going to be fun,” Vashti grinned. 


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vashti and the crew struggle in the caves of Despori and the sirens from the temple head back to Alyria. The blessed who live in Despori make themselves known.

THE sirens made it back to Alyria in a month’s time. By then the story of what had happened in Latva had gotten back to the city and Rynek, who had yet to figure out his powers, dragged them back. The sirens had been leading the way all the way to the front gates of Latva but had changed back to the demure creatures under his tutelage as soon as they’d hit the main road. It had been unnerving. The man serving beside him whom he now knew stood with the blessed had also ducked his head, his eyes going wide and glazed as if he’d been harmed by what he’d seen. Rynek said nothing but was willing to wait it out. They would pay. 

It was then that his curse set in. As he stumbled through the main gates, Beteste shoved her finger into his side. 

“It’s time for you to receive your gift,” she said. She then slapped him in the face and around him the sand lifted with his shock. He knew immediately and could only feel anguish. It had been hidden to him for the month of travel but now, at the mouth of his city, he felt his own demise. 

Camdon, the only soldier left, nodded grimly. 

“You’re a traitor,” Rynek spat. 

“No. I see the light of a new day. You need to adapt, Rynek. This isn’t a curse unless you make it one,” Camdon said. 

“I choose to protect the people I’m loyal to,” Rynek said stiffly. 

Camdon sighed. “Alright then.” 

“What does that mean?” Rynek asked. 

Beteste smirked at him. “It means you come to the temple with us.” 

“But I’m the head of the watch,” Rynek protested, “I’ve protected this city for 50 years. You can’t….they can’t….” 

“You’ll find that they can,” one of the male sirens said smartly, “I was set to work in the mines. It wasn’t glamorous by any stretch but it was what my father had done and his father before him and so on. I was good at it. But then they found out. Everything I’d ever been…..the person I was before….it was gone. They will take it all for you.” 

“So I won’t tell them,” Rynek said somewhat wildly. His life was turning on its head and it had been from the first moment he’d heard of the situation on Latva. 

“But we will,” the male siren said.

“After all, all sirens belong in the temple,” Beteste said with a serene smile. 

Rynek looked at Camdon who only shrugged and began to walk through the gates. 

“But you won’t put your daughter away,” Rynek called desperately, “How could you do this to me?” 

“My daughter is an innocent. She’s never wanted to make someone hurt just because they’re different. I would never raise her to think that. But you….well you aren’t a bad man, Rynket. But you also aren’t a good one. You need to learn and to change. I truly think this can do that for you. And if you come with us, truly with us, you could see a new world rise in which you will help shape it. I know my place. It is at the feet of the gods and those the gods love. You need to learn that place,” Camdon replied. 

“So we go to the temple,” the male siren said firmly. He pushed Rynek forward and Camdon let him, a plan already formulated to explain what had happened in the stony mountains of Despori. 

 

THE councilmen were distraught. News of the slaughter in Latva had reached them before Rynek had even stepped foot into Despori and the news that he had come home reached them quickly. They ordered him to assemble his team only to get a response from the temple of Syria. 

“He’s a what?” the chancellor asked, his voice shaking. 

“It seems they found out in the field. He accidently killed all but one of his men. The other sirens helped to subdue him and bring him home. He’s raving mad. Saying they killed everyone and wish to frame him but his officer is distinguished and can attest to their plight. He says he will come and speak with you, if you wish it,” the chancellor’s assistant said, wringing his hands under the chancellor’s scrutiny. 

“Very well,” the chancellor sighed, rubbing his temple, “Send for him. Maybe he can shed a light on this terrible situation.” 

Camdon knew they’d call for him. He’d made up a story that fit the situation they wanted to have. Even if he had wanted to tell the truth he was pretty sure they wouldn’t have listened. To think even one temple in Alyria had turned on them would be to admit that they were wrong about everything. They would rather believe a lie than have to deal with their own downfall. He straightened his shoulders as he went to walk into the office of the chancellor. 

“Camdon Belmont of the second ring of Alyria. Born to a siren yourself, I see,” the chancellor said when Camdon sat down. 

“Yes,” Camdon said readily. 

“And your daughter is one. Yet she doesn’t live in the temple,” the chancellor had yet to look at the man in front of him. Camdon counted that in his favor. 

“Yes,” he said again. 

“Why is that?” the chancellor asked. 

“I was under the impression it was my choice to send her there,” Camdon said. 

“Oh it is. But most decide the powers are too much for them. It seems the safest option, doesn’t it?” the chancellor ask mildly. 

“My daughter isn’t that strong. She’s never caused me any trouble,” Camdon said just as mildly. 

Finally, the chancellor looked up at him. The two men sized each other up for a moment before the chancellor nodded. 

“Very well. Tell me about what happened in Latva and Despori,” he said, gesturing for Camdon to speak. 

“I’m still not quite sure. It seemed like Rynek had been hiding his ability for years and it finally snapped. He killed all of the men in the mountain range. I think he spared me because of my daughter. We never saw the traitors. We never even reached where we’d heard they’d be,” Camdon said. 

“The temple has him now?” the chancellor asked. 

“Yes. We escorted them there as soon as we got back into the city,” Camdon said.

“Good. That’s good. Perhaps once he’s settled in we can speak with him logically about this matter. And the sirens who saw it?” the chancellor asked. 

“They went back to the temple. In fact, they were happy to take him. They wanted to teach him. He’d been hiding for so long, it was time he learned his place,” Camdon said. It was the most truthful thing he’d said about the incident. He wondered if Vashti had stayed in the valley or if she had moved on since he’d seen her. He wondered when she’d be back. Before they’d left, she’d told him to look for the other temples and any openings he could find. He was to make sure the sirens were worming their way into the other temples. When Vashti returned she wanted all of them on her side. 

“It’s so unfortunate. He was such a good head of the watch. Would you like the job?” the chancellor asked. 

Camdon blinked. “Don’t you need to have someone more senior?” he asked. 

He couldn’t believe that it could be so easy. He had hoped to worm his way up so he could sway more people in the city watch but being offered the job as head of the watch was better than anything he could have hoped for. 

“Usually,” the chancellor sighed, “But most of the watch is dead so we’ll take what we can get. Would you like the position?” 

Camdon grinned. “Yes, sir, I would.” 

 

VASHTI hadn’t left Despori. When the sirens had left she had continued her work in the mountains. She waited outside, knowing that those blessed by Brisa were in the air, listening and waiting. It was trying to find those blessed by Delana that was proving to be hard. She’d seen forms in the fog but they didn’t stop when she motioned for them and she wasn’t sure who they were. After three more weeks of living in the wet and cool range, she wondered if maybe it was time to move on. 

“This place is wreaking havoc with my hair,” Aze groaned as she leaned across a large stone outside the cave. 

“Maybe it’s time to move on,” Vashti sighed. 

“But you wanted to find the blessed that live here,” Aze said in surprise. 

“I’ve ignored them. I’ve spoken into the wind. I’ve done everything short of actually hunting them and they haven’t come out. I think we need to push on to the woodlands. Take down the hunters there and then maybe we can find some of them. Delena and Brisa are known for being the hardest goddesses to get to. Maybe that’s the only way,” Vashti said. 

She was clearly bothered by the idea of leaving but it did seem like the option. Though there was no true timeline to Vashti’s plan, she was not one to accept waiting.

They’d grown used to the cave that had become their home. Though the winds and the shadows caused a chill none of them were used to, it felt familiar to be there. Elvad looked away and Aze bit her lip.

“If you think that’s right,” she said. 

Vashti nodded. “I do. I think we need to move on to find what we’re looking for.” 

“Well then. When?” Elvad asked. 

“I want to do one final sweep of the area then we can go,” Vashti said, peering out of the cave’s open mouth and out into the world. 

“You think one more time will help us find them?”  Aze asked. 

“Probably not, but I won’t satisfy myself if I don’t do it. If we spread out we might have more luck,” Vashti said. 

The other two nodded. They barely ever took weapons with them when they went out, knowing that their powers were more effective than any weapon could be. They started off minutes later with the suns high in the sky and the day waiting for them. 

It was what the hunters had been waiting for. 

The winds couldn’t warn Vashti when they came up behind her. The winds knew that if they changed the hunters would know they were there and freeze them so they could be caught. So instead, they watched in mute horror as one hunter slammed a stone into the back of Vashti’s head. She never had time to cry out. 

 

VASHTI woke blurrily to an aching pain in her fingers. When she tried to wiggle them she whimpered and realized not only were they broken, but they were tied behind her back. She flopped her head back and looked up into the faces of four men. 

“About time,” the one standing directly in front of her said, “I was getting bored.” 

“We coulda’ started,” the one to his right snapped. The first man, long, lean, and with stubble on his cheeks, sneered. 

“It’s no fun if she ain’t awake to feel it,” he said. 

The other, short and compact with a head of dark hair, nodded. The other two nodded wisely as well. 

“Well I’m awake now,” Vashti said, shaking her head to clear it. She could feel the blood on the back of her neck. Quietly, she prayed. 

“Yes, traitor, you are,” the long man said with an evil grin. He flipped a knife in his hands. 

“Silly of you, really. To go out without any weapons or help in a land you don’t understand. This ain’t Alyria. People could attack at any moment,” he said.

“Clearly,” she said bitterly. 

“Aw now, don’t be sad,” the second man huffed, “We’re special. You’ll like us.” 

The other men snickered and Vashti looked up plainly into his eyes. “I highly doubt that,” she said. 

“Yeah, maybe you should. Never know. Guess you might not like what we’re plannin’ to do,” the man replied, a wicked gleam in his eye. 

“Chat time’s over,” the first man said in frustration, “I want to cut. I’ve waited long enough.” 

Vashti closed her eyes when the knife tip kissed the top of her breast. She knew what they would be cutting and she refused to scream as he pressed the sharp blade into the ink of her tattoos. 

“These praise a goddess. Don’t know how, but they do. What will she do if I maim them off of you?” the man said as he very slowly carved down between her breasts. 

She pressed her eyes shut. Syria couldn’t help her here. She knew that. Despori was not her land and like an oasis in the desert, her goddess couldn’t reach over the god that had created it. Delena, gentle and kind, would still not take it well if another god overpowered humans on her land. Instead, she thought of Aze. Aze who called the goddess every time they laid together. Aze’s fingers and tongue that traced the marks so reverently. As the man carved up her chest and down into her stomach she let herself remember those feelings. She pushed away the pain and thought only of Aze. Sweet and soft but also powerful and unyielding. When the cuts stopped, she still didn’t open her eyes. She was lost in the memories she’d made. 

“Doesn’t that look better?” she heard the long man ask and the other three agreed. 

It was the thick fingers of the second man that slid between her legs and found the ring she’d pierced into her skin. He flicked it and she flinched, her memory moving quickly to Aze’s hands and lips there instead. If he was going to take her, she would not give him the satisfaction of begging or even of a whimper. Instead, she would reside in her memory. She made herself go limp. 

“So willing,” he growled as his fingers stroked down her thighs. 

“Sirens always are, aren’t they? Do you need some wetness? You could always make it,” the long man said and for a moment, the blade touched the soft inner curve of her thighs. She wished he was dead but didn’t cry out. 

“I think she’s gone,” the thick man commented. 

“Well we can’t have that. We’ll brand her first. That’ll jar her back,” the long man said. He flicked the rings in her nipples. She forced her face to stay still. 

“Heat the iron, I’ll keep her entertained,” he said cruelly. She didn’t move. A brand wouldn’t harm her. If she could get them down maybe she could get free. She made herself go fully limp, her legs splaying out more underneath her. They hadn’t pinned her legs. She didn’t exam why too deeply. If she did her anger would cause her to lash out and she needed to be calm. She waited. When the long man ripped the ring from her nose she only flinched slightly. When he flicked the rings in her breasts with a rough finger she didn’t move. And when he dug his dirt stained thumbs into the cuts on her chest she only breathed more deeply. She didn’t open her eyes until she heard them return with the branding iron. 

“Her breasts, sir?” one of the quieter men asked. He seemed uncomfortable with the whole encounter and his hands shook as he brandished the iron. 

“No,” the long man hummed, “Her face. We want everyone to know what she is. So we’ll mark her face.” 

None of the other hunters spoke but Vashti was relieved. She could shock them so much more if they aimed for her face. She didn’t open her eyes until the last second. She could feel the heat close to her cheek and opened her eyes as it neared. With clear and deliberate movements she turned her head and stuck her tongue out. Running it up the iron slowly, she locked eyes with the skittish man. The iron didn’t burn her. It didn’t even hurt. He dropped the iron with a cry, causing the other three to jump. She had her moment. 

Her fingers were broken but if she could move her arms she could use her abilities. She’d learned long ago not to rely on her hands. She swung one leg out, knocking the long man down as she tried to wiggle her hands out of their ties. They were tight but in a blink of an eye they had sizzled away. Fire had eaten them up. She sent a quick thank you to Jordan who, for some reason, seemed to be looking out for her. He might face a fight with Delena but Vashti was free. She swung her arms up, calling her sands to her. As the three other men rushed at her she caught their legs, forcing them to kneel in front of her. The long man she pinned with sand hardened around his ankles and wrists. 

“My turn,” she said sweetly. 

The men trembled. On their knees, they looked up at her with fear and defiance. 

“You two. You didn’t do much here so I’ll be kind. Merciful, even,” she said and with a flick of her arm they were buried in sand, suffocating to death.  There was always sand under the dirt and in her anger she called it easily to the surface. Two dunes were all that was left of the other men. The other two stared at her. The long man, the cruelest of them, began to spout anger but she forced sand into his mouth so he choked. 

“Shut up,” she snapped. “Now I’ve never understood men like you. You hunt us. You hurt us. Yet the gods don’t thank you. They don’t love you. Is it out of spite? For not being chosen? For knowing that when you die, you go nowhere? That’s probably it. But hurting me….it won’t help you. And me killing you? Well it will only raise me in her esteems. Adversity. That’s what they give us. And if we’re smart we rise to that occasion. In this case? I will transcend. You sliced open my prayers and found nothing but a goddess burning below. The gods  _ hate  _ you. They hated you before, but now? You nearly took what wasn’t yours,” she turned to the thick man who trembled, “And you….you marred my perfection. I hope you enjoy the torture of the afterlife. I have a feeling you won’t ever see any peace. Now, where are you hiding them?” 

“Hiding who?” The thick man snarled. 

Vashti rolled her eyes. She was formidable in her bloody glory but still, he bared his teeth. 

“The ones you hunt. Clearly you have some. You wouldn’t have tried to take me if you weren’t intent on driving them back to the city. You would keep a gruelling pace to keep me tired and keep my fingers broken and my arms tied. You wouldn’t feel so confident if you didn’t think you were leaving soon. So. Where are they?” she said, twisting her arms so the bands of sand tightened. 

He winced but didn’t speak. 

“If you think I’m keeping either of you alive for this, you’re wrong. I’m going to kill you anyway. I’ll find them, with or without you. I’m hoping you’ll do the right thing but then again, you haven’t up until now, have you?” she cocked her head as she spoke and the long man sputtered out sand. 

When neither responded she sighed. “Very well. Let’s get on with it, then.” 

The long man was first. She lifted her broken fingers  and twisted her wrists in a circle. The motion was crude but it did the job. Sharp sand began to form and then cut into his chest. He screamed. 

“It’s not that bad,” she said, “Stop whining.” 

She cut deeper than he had on her, reaching bone in some slices. But she was meticulous. Each cut was the same as the ones on her body. She slowly traced out the pattern of her prayer on his body. He wept with the pain. 

“Shut up,” she snapped before turning her eyes upward. “Syria, thank you for sending Jordan to help me. If only a little. Please, take my sacrifice for what it is and let his blood run in your name.” 

She didn’t hear a response but she didn’t expect one. Turning her eyes back to the bloody man, she grinned. 

“She’s going to love it,” she said. 

It was then that she gouged his eyes out. His screams were high pitched and ended in blubbering whimpers but she didn’t stop.

“If I had working fingers, I’d do this by hand,” she commented, “But you took that from me. Do you feel the grains in your skin? I’ve always wondered what it feels like to have those little bits left behind.” 

He cried but no tears could escape his bloody sockets anymore. She smiled widely but he couldn’t see. It terrified the thick man, who cowered and pissed himself. 

“Such  babies. All of you,” she sighed. With one final scoff, she cut into his chest too deeply to reverse. He fell limp as she severed the blood lines to his heart. 

“Now you,” she smiled at the thick man. 

“Please. I won’t hunt again. I’ll go away. You’ll never see me again,” he begged. 

“How many?” she asked quietly, her eyes on the sand. 

“What?” the man asked wildly. 

“How many of them did you touch like you touched me? How many did you hit so you could see their terror when you took them? How many that couldn’t or wouldn’t fight back?” she asked, her voice deadly calm. 

“None,” he lied, “None.” 

“You can’t lie to me. You’re dirtier than him. Worse. Your soul is the color of dirt and stinks of defilement. Now tell me, does it feel good to be the one on your knees?” 

Sand snaked up his thighs and he began to chant “No, no, no, no, no,” as it ran lightly across his skin.

It was as gentle as a caress but he began to sob. When it circled around his most private parts the sobs turned thick. 

“Both of you. So afraid of the pain you’ve inflicted. Now, if I had my fingers I could do this without killing you but I’m afraid my control simply isn’t the same with them gone. What a shame,” she said, her frown fake. 

“Don’t. Please don’t. Just kill me,” he begged. 

“Too late for that,” she said. 

As the sand circled him fully she jerked her arm upward and with one high pitched cry, the man fell silent. 

She watched him pass out. Watched the blood pour from the wound she’d inflicted. She shrugged. She had to find those they’d taken. She had to let them out. While he bled to death she stepped farther into the cave. Once more, Jordan helped her. The way was lit with small flames on the ground. Once she made to turn the wrong way but the wind picked up, pushing her in the right direction. 

“Bless be,” she murmured to the blessed that helped her. There was no wind in caves. They’d followed her. 

Finally she saw them. 

Those blessed by Delena were usually women. While some abilities didn’t manifest until puberty, Delana’s powers were a raw force upon birth. The sign of true strength in them came not just from their ability to read minds and even control others and see the future, it came in the form of blindness. While those blessed by Efa also tended to be blind that was from their birthplace and not their abilities. Delana’s blessed were blind so they wouldn’t go mad. 

She knew these were Delana’s as soon as she stepped in the small cave room and it was because of one small girl. 

“You should stop pretending you don’t love her,” the young voice commented. 

“Delana’s blessed,” Vashti said in relief. 

“We heard you,” three of them said together. 

The raw power of young blessed was untapped. It manifested oddly. Sometimes they could control it, but mostly it was tidbits. They were sold as novelty trinkets to be raised and trained by an elder. Whether it be to a wealthy entrepreneur, a traveling circus, or just a rich family, their lives were spent chained to tables trying to view lives they would never be allowed to lead. They were kept in check by one simple reminder. They were mortal. Though they could control others, they were either tortured until the idea repelled them or reminded of their own mortality with pain whenever something didn’t go the way their owners planned. It seemed the hunters who had caught her had caught nearly 20 young women varying from ages 15 to 40 in the cave. 

“I’m sure you did. They screamed a lot,” Vashti said. 

“No,” one said and another continued, “Not that. You. In your mind. That was a beautiful memory.”

“Oh,” she said ungracefully. 

“You don’t think you know what love is. But you do,” the same young voice said. “You should tell her.” 

“Why? Is there going to be a time when it’s too late?” Vashti challenged. 

“Who knows?” a few voices chorused. 

“Future isn’t finite,” a deeper voice added. 

“Will you let us out?” the young voice asked. 

“Of course. And when I do-” Vashti began but was cut off by the deeper voice.

“We discussed it already. We will pledge ourselves to you. And the others they didn’t find will as well, we believe. We’ve seen you. In the mountains. You’re kind to those like us. You freed the sand sirens from bondage. But we want this land. For ourselves and for Brisa. Our goddesses have worked together for many years to try and keep us safe here. We want this and the woods for them,” the woman said. 

“You can have this place. I would never dream of taking it from its creators. Where do the rest of you hide?” Vashti asked.

“Deeper in the range,” the older girl said, stepping forward and into the dim light that the fire cast, “We saw you. We watched. We were going to speak with you but they caught us two days ago.”

Vashti looked over the smaller woman. She had slightly lighter skin than Vashti’s own and wore rags that covered her shoulders. She had clearly been born in the mountain range, her hair thick and braided loosely around her head. She was shorter and thicker than the people Vashti knew and her eyes were a pale grey. They found Vashti’s own and the sand siren wasn’t sure if the girl was truly looking at her, or into her. 

“I’m Kaeda,” the girl said unflinchingly, “And you’re Vashti. The one they’ve been talking about. If only they knew.”

“Knew what?” Vashti asked.

Kaeda reached out and touched her finger to the cut between Vashti’s breasts. 

“How strong you truly are,” Kaeda replied. 

Vashti flinched at the touch. 

“Your soul….what conviction,” Kaeda said. It seemed the group had decided she would speak for them. 

“The goddess was right to pick you. I’m sure she knows that. You need to know that, too. And Bash is right, you should tell Aze. She should know,” Kaeda continued. 

“Would you like to get out of here?” Vashti asked.

“We would. But we’re chained,” Kaeda said calmly. 

Vashti looked down at her fingers and bit her lip. 

“Your friend is out there. Some of them are still following him. Maybe he could help,” Kaeda said. 

“And Aze?” Vashti asked, afraid the hunters would find her.

“She hid. She heard them but she’s safe. I moved them, anyway. But your other friend….I can’t catch their minds. They’re better at resisting and I can’t do much with other blessed. If you go out now you’ll catch him. And he can help us get unchained,” Kaeda said. The other sirens nodded in agreement. 

Vashti followed their directions. She had no need to believe they’d be wrong. She ran to the front of the cave and sure enough, Elvad was approaching at a run. 

“Vashti?” he cried out when he saw her. She could see the horror in his face but she only gestured with her broken hands for him to meet her. 

“Hurry. We’ll hide. They’re down here-” she started but barely finished. 

There were three men behind him and one had a bow. The arrows were dipped in poison as were most hunter’s weapons. It wasn’t enough to kill but it was enough to cause violent illness and blackouts. It made catching blessed so much easier. He knocked the arrow and let it fly. Elvad cried out once more and spun Vashti, his hands hot on her arms as he put his back to the weapon. He blazed and Vashti watched in awe as fire consumed his skin and burned the arrow away. When the fire stopped she looked into his eyes. His anger matched her own and she felt something flare below her skin at the look. He growled and turned on the men who now seemed to regret their movements. 

They didn’t have time to plead for their lives. Elvad sent them up in flames without a thought before turning back to Vashti. 

“I got them away from Aze. But she’s hiding. What….what did they do to you?” he paled as he looked at her ruined fingers. Blood poured from her nose and the cuts that had been made in her tattooed skin. She knew she must look monstrous. 

“It’s okay. I killed them,” she assured him. 

“I hope it was slowly,” Elvad said back darkly. 

“It was,” Vashti said, “But now we need to let them out. The men who took me. They had a vault of girls blessed by Delena.” 

“Dreamers?” Elvad asked.

Vashti grinned. “We call them night sirens but I like that name better. Yes. Dreamers. They need to be released from their chains but….” 

She looked down at her hands and then shrugged. “We can fix my hands after. They’ve been down there for days. And I think the one that tried to take me had his way with some of them, too. They’re so young. They need a chance to survive.” 

“Did they already vow to stand with you?” Elvad asked, taking her arm and gently leading her back into the cave. 

“Yes,” Vashti said, “They’d been thinking about it before I reached them. I think we might get to meet with the rest of them, too.” 

Elvad stopped when he came to the bodies of the hunters. The two she’d killed slowly still lay in the dirt. The thick man had bled out, his appendage beside him, making Elvad shiver. Vashti shrugged. 

“He deserved it.”

Elvad couldn’t disagree but looking at it for too long made him feel sick so he stepped over the two men and followed the lights still in the cave. 

“You should pray,” Vashti said, her arm still looped through his, “Your god helped me. He burned the ropes off my wrists and lit these fires to help me find the girls. I already thanked him but maybe if you did he’d see how strong you are.” 

“I think he’s seeing how strong you are,” Elvad said as they reached the deep cavern in the cave. 

Kaeda was waiting for them. 

“You listened well. Please, Elvad of Latva, let us free,” she said.

Elvad nodded and went to work releasing the many cuffs on each young woman. 

“Where is Aze?” Vashti asked after a few minutes where the only sound was the clinking of the chains. 

“Hiding,” a few of the blessed chorused. 

“Is she scared?” Vashti asked. She ignored the look Elvad gave her and stared resolutely at Kaeda. 

“Yes,” Kaeda nodded.

Vashti tried not to let her anxiousness show but Elvad only laughed. 

“Go get her,” he said, “This is going to take some time and she shouldn’t be alone for that long. All the hunters are dead. No one will bother you.”

Kaeda nodded. “You have killed this hunting party and the only other one in the area is in the woods. You’ll be safe. She’s to the south. No doubt she’ll see you before you see her. We’ll be fine. You’ve ended this terror.” 

“My hands….” Vashti trailed off, looking down. 

“Petra is a healer,” Kaeda said. One of the young women Elvad had already freed stepped forward. She looked over the broken bones of the fingers and then sighed. 

“This will hurt but I can fix it quickly. I’ll need to do more later but for now, you’ll have use of them,” she said, her voice soft like the bells of the temples in the night. 

“I can handle it,” Vashti said. 

The healing pain wasn’t like the pain of the cuts or of her ripped nose ring. It tingled and burned but it felt like a sealing rather than an undoing. As she watched, her mangled fingers eased back into place simply by light touches of Petra’s hand. 

“It isn’t perfect. Don’t punch anything,” Petra warned. 

Vashti smirked. “I’m not much of a hands on girl,” she said. 

“Oh, I know,” Petra replied, “But sometimes we have to. Your bag is up with them, by the way. They hid it but sometimes they forget we know things. It’s behind the big, grey, rock. The one with the white etchings on it.” 

“Thank you,” Vashti said but as she turned to go, Petra caught her arm. 

“No. Thank you,” the young woman said gratefully. 

Vashti smiled. “Happy to help,” she said before bounding back up to the cave front. 

She took her bag and made sure everything was in it. Coaxing the sand into the bag, she stepped out into the murky day to find Aze. Her fingers still felt stiff but it was better than they had been. She flexed her hands as she walked. It didn’t take long for Aze to find her. The woman flew from behind a rock and skidded to a stop when she saw the blood on Vashti’s chest. 

“What….what did they do to you?” Aze ask, horrified. 

“They cut me. It’s okay. I killed them. It’s over,” Vashti said simply. 

Aze’s eyes filled with tears. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I hid. I should’ve helped you.” 

Vashti stepped forward hastily and put her sore fingers on Aze’s arm. “It’s okay. They just would’ve hurt you too. But I got out. I’m fine. We’re all fine. They didn’t touch Elvad and I freed a group of blessed. It worked out.”

“You were covered….” Aze murmured and Vashti touched the woman’s chin. 

“They didn’t take anything from me,” she said firmly. 

Aze nodded after a moment and then hesitated. 

“Can I….hug you? Or will it hurt?” she asked childishly, her voice soft. 

“I expect it will make me feel even better,” Vashti said. 

She ignored the thought the blessed girls had placed in her head as she folded Aze into her arms. Maybe one day she’d tell the woman how it was thoughts of her gentle fingers that got Vashti through the pain. But for now she simply held her and was glad that no one had dared to touch her. 

“I wish I could help,” Aze said quietly. 

“You did. Now come on. Everyone’s okay. We want to get moving. There are more blessed to talk to. It seems they’re on our side,” Vashti said. 

Almost without thought she linked their fingers and began to lead Aze. The cuts on her chest had stopped bleeding and she idly wondered if Petra had healed them slightly even though she hadn’t asked. They got back to the cave in time to see Elvad leading the group of blessed out. In the daylight, as murky as it was, they could see that Kaeda’s eyes were a milky grey and while they focused on each one of them, it seemed to be more with her abilities than her eyesight. 

There were about 25 young women that followed him out of the cave and some were very young. It enraged Vashti to know that they had hidden in the mountains to escape and still, they had been caught. 

“Do you live here because you want to or because you have to?” Vashti asked. 

“At first because we had to. A lot of us were born here and we just didn’t leave. But then we learned to love this land. It’s filled with secrets that no one but us could ever know. So we stayed and it became easier to hide. Still, they find us. Usually the young ones who don’t know the land as well. They get caught and then forced into working for the cities. Of course, they call them contracts, but they aren’t. They’re slaves,” Kaeda’s voice filled with bitterness as she spoke and she pulled the smallest child near her to her side. The young girl burrowed into the other woman’s leg and Vashti felt another spark of anger. 

She sneered. “This land will be yours if you stand with me.” 

“We can feel your sincerity,” Petra said quietly, “And we’re thankful.”

“I don’t take things that aren’t rightfully mine,” Vashti said passionately. 

Kaeda looked down at the linked fingers of the two women. “No,” she said thoughtfully, “You don’t.” 

Aze flushed but didn’t pull her hand back. 

“What happened?” she asked instead, tightening her grip on Vashti as she looked once more at the deep cuts on her chest and along her tattoos. 

“They knocked me out. Broke my fingers and tied up my arms so I couldn’t attack them. Then they tortured me,” Vashti said flatly. 

Aze paled. 

“They didn’t get too far,” Vashti reassured her. 

“They ripped out the hoop in your nose,” Elvad said softly. He came to stand in front of Vashti and she blinked as he tenderly touched her bloody appendage with warm fingers. 

“It could have been worse,” she replied. 

“If it had been I wouldn’t have been as kind to those other men,” he said roughly. 

She reached up with her free hand and gently touched his chest. “It’s alright. Both of you. I’m alright. They’re dead and we’re all safe.” 

“Interesting,” a few of the older girls chorused and Vashti turned sharp eyes on them. One giggled but Kaeda only shrugged. 

“They’ve never seen such a dynamic,” she explained. “Most of the time those blessed by any gods hide from one another. But it seems we didn’t read the situation totally correctly or we would have seen. It isn’t just two of you. It’s all three. You’ve built some kind of relationship around each other. All of you, together.” 

Aze flushed but Vashti only looked up into Elvad’s eyes. It was his anger. His desperation that called to her. The way he blazed and the way he reminded her of Jordan in his fury. Her want for him was her lust for blood to be spilled. The dirtiest part of her belonged with him and she knew it. She could dig her nails into his spine and let him ride her to release and all she would feel would be delicious anger.  He was the part of her she yearned to let free. She smiled at him and when he returned the gesture she knew. He would let her. They would use each other until there wasn’t anything left if they were left to their own devices. Looking at Aze, that smile softened. With Aze beside her, her anger was checked. Not fully, Aze didn’t expect her to be someone else. But the other woman was kind. Sweet in a way Vashti hadn’t known existed. She tempered the anger. Laying with her was power but also discovery. It felt like freedom when she let Aze take her. She had never thought she would find a partner she trusted enough to take control but with Aze it felt like the perfect kind of release. The god born brought another side to Vashti. One that helped to keep the fire in her veins in check. With both of them there was a balance she couldn’t have hoped to achieve alone. 

She wasn’t one to hug or show affection easily. She couldn’t get herself to wrap her arms around either of them so instead she stepped back. Neither of them looked upset and Aze let go of her hand with a soft smile. 

“We know,” she told the group of blessed. “We’re all lucky we found each other. And that Vashti found you. Even if it was accidental.” 

“We had meant to find her first. But they got to us. Come. Our elders are waiting,” Kaeda said. 

They followed the group of young women farther into the mountains than they’d dared to go before. It got darker and Vashti shivered involuntarily. Petra stepped back to walk next to her. 

“Would you like me to heal those? More so, I mean,” she asked softly. 

“No,” Vashti said, listening to the wind whistle through the rocks and the occasional clunk of a small stone slipping along its brothers. 

“You want to remember,” Petra stated. 

Vashti nodded. 

“I wasn’t born here,” Petra said after a moment. Vashti looked over at her. It was true most blessed were chosen from the lands their gods claimed but some were born outside of those realms. Most were caught before they could find their way back to their kind. Petra wasn’t quite as short or thick as her friends and her eyes, though pale, weren’t quite as blue. She didn’t look like those born in the mountain range. 

“You’re from Alyria,” Vashti said. 

“The third ring below the surface. My parents wanted to sell me to a fur trader,” Petra said with a nod. 

“How did you end up here?” Vashti asked. Behind them, Elvad began to give off heat so the women would stop shivering. 

“There was this old woman who worked with the trader. I guess she’d been there most of her life. She wasn’t blessed or anything. Just someone who had signed onto a life term contract to keep her family from falling even lower in the city. She sympathized with me. She falsified some papers. Got me shipped here. Then I ran when I had the chance. Kaeda’s new mother found me. She raised me here but I still remember how the upper city shone when I finally got to see it. I’m not blind. I just never got used to the sun,” Petra explained. 

“Where were they taking you?” Vashti asked. 

Petra shrugged. She had fine shoulders so pale that her veins showed through. The hunters must have taken the women’s clothes, for each of them stood wrapped only in a rough piece of cloth. Vashti looked down at her own scarred belly. 

“They wouldn’t tell you. Of course not. But I know they would take me back to Alyria. They would have marked my face if they could. So everyone would know what I was to them. I’ll wear the scars proudly. They tried to take something from me and they didn’t succeed. Just like they did with you,” Vashti said. 

Petra smiled back at her and Vashti knew she’d won another battle. One she hadn’t even been sure she was fighting.  She continued to walk with Petra, seeing what she could have been in the girl’s pale eyes.


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vashti and the others meet another god born and enter the home of the dreamers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cut the last chapter into two because it felt so long so this one is a bit shorter. I hope you're enjoying the story!

 

UP at the front Aze stood with Kaeda. 

“You know how she feels. About everything,” Aze said. She wasn’t asking. She’d met a blessed of Delena before. The young woman had been blind and smiled cruelly as she spoke of the abuse Aze sustained under her mother’s hand. Aze had never felt any anger about it, though. The woman had had a chain wrapped around her ankle to keep her from running and a man with a whip slashed at her if she spoke out of turn. Her own blaze of anger was justified. Aze knew that those blessed by Delana could see into others. Kaeda had that power. She knew it. 

“Not everything,” Kaeda said. 

“But most things. How she feels about Syria. About me,” Aze spoke softly, hoping Vashti wouldn’t hear. 

“I don’t betray the confidence of those around me,” Kaeda said, “I can’t tell you any of that.” 

“I wouldn’t want you to. I’m just….glad someone else knows her. I mean, the way I do. Even just a little bit,” Aze said with a small smile. 

“She is fascinating,” Kaeda admitted. “Her mind winds around itself in a way I’ve never seen in anyone else.” 

“She is. But I’m more interested in her heart,” Aze confessed. 

“Yes. I know,” Kaeda said with a flickering grin. She stood straighter after a moment of walking and cocked her head to the side. 

“They’re here,” she said, “Come along.” 

The cave she led them into was dark and for a moment fear swallowed Aze whole but a small child snuck her hand into the older woman’s and Aze breathed deeply, grounding herself. Her father might not know her here but she was safe. 

“Aze?” Vashti called from the back and Aze stopped walking until Vashti bumped into her. Aze felt Elvad’s heat and gratefully leaned into it as Vashti took her hand, replacing the child’s. 

“Do the gods feel us here?” Aze asked, cursing her own childish voice but Vashti only pressed a blind kiss to her neck.

“Yes. Jordan saved me in a cave like this. Yes. They can feel us. We aren’t alone,” she promised. 

For just a moment, Elvad wrapped his arms around both of their waists but then Petra was ushering them farther into the dark and a hush fell over the group. The only thing anchoring them all was their fingers wrapped around one another’s. 

“Mama,” Kaeda called into the cave, her native tongue thicker and richer than the clean sounds of Alyrian speech. Though she spoke the language of Alyria well, this sounded right in her mouth as if the sounds were created for her lips. Vashti marveled at it. She wondered if Alyrian sounded like that coming from her. 

Kaeda continued to call into the cave until movement stopped the group. A woman’s voice called back. It was crackled but warm and even Vashti could feel the hope in the woman’s tone. When Kaeda responded the movement got closer until all the girls were exclaiming and embracing those who came up to them. When Kaeda spoke once more, a soft light filled the dark cave. Vashti, Aze, and Elvad blinked in the sudden light. They could now see the faces of the older women around them. Some held children to them and one woman, closer to Vashti’s age, was suckling a baby at her chest. 

The three studied the group in front of them and the group studied them right back. The old woman at the front was the first to smile. She began to speak quickly and Kaeda stepped in to translate. 

“She says welcome ‘daughter of sand’. She wants to thank you for freeing us. You had two paths in her mind and you chose the righteous one. She is ‘Mama’. She’s been here the longest. We all call her that even though she isn’t our mother. She’s the one who helps us and finds those who run here. She even supports the people who have run who don’t carry the love of the gods. She would like to offer you our home for a few days while you rest and let your bodies heal from this ordeal. No hunters will be here for at least another week and the forest is always there. Please, take your time. We would love to have you and we are all anxious to speak with you about your plan for these lands. She’d also like to know what you know, really know, about the creation of people and this world. She suspects your Alyrian education is lacking,” Kaeda translated. 

The old woman’s lips cracked further into a smile, showing a mouth of clean, even, white, teeth. 

“Tell her thank you for the invite. We’ll accept of course. I would also love to speak with her about this world. Any information she can give me I’d be thankful for,” Vashti said, inclining her head to the older woman. 

“We have bedrolls and furs, though it seems you might have your own,” Kaeda said, eyeing the bags Aze and Vashti were wearing. 

“We do. We also have money, if you are in need. I’m not sure how your trading system works,” Vashti confessed. 

“Sometimes hunters will trade lives for jewels,” Kaeda said matter of factly. Aze winced at the words. 

“Then when we leave I will line your pockets with jewels. May it help you before we return,” Vashti said formally. 

Kaeda nodded. “Thank you. Now come along. We need to go deeper before we can rest.”

The cave was now lined with lights but Vashti didn’t release the hands of her companions. They walked side by side, taking in the crude walls that split off into spindly hallways. 

“Each room has a purpose. But we all sleep in the main room. It keeps us safer,” Kaeda explained. 

“It’s also warmer,” Petra added. 

“I could keep you warm,” Elvad said with a raised eyebrow. He was kidding, but there was a warmth in his chest that reminded him of Tirion and he decided to be reckless. 

Petra flushed, the red crawling up her neck and into her ears before Aze smacked Elvad’s shoulder. Vashti only laughed. 

“He could. He’s warm right now. Would you like to feel?” she asked playfully. 

The younger woman turned a bright shade of red before touching Elvad’s shoulder. She sighed into the warmth of his skin and stepped closer before stiffening as if realizing what she’d done. 

“Relax, little Seer,” Elvad murmured, “I wouldn’t take what isn’t mine. I’m only teasing.” 

Petra looked up, her eyes wide and wet. “I….” she seemed unable to speak and Elvad smiled warmly. Vashti had seen that light only when he looked at Tirion and she couldn’t help but respect him more for the way he gently touched Petra’s back in response. 

“I know what this world has done to you. I’m offering you warmth. Nothing more if you don’t want it,”  he said softly. 

“I’ve never…..” Petra tried again and swallowed hard. 

Vashti knew Kaeda was watching. She knew they all were no matter how they pretended not to be.  Elvad softened even more. 

“I know. Kind hands. They’re hard to find. In men especially. I’ll tell you a secret, though,” he said and she nodded, “I’m only kind to those who deserve it.” 

Petra’s eyes flooded over and she leaned on his chest, her forehead buried in his warm skin. He wrapped his arms around her and looked at Vashti over the girl’s head. She could see the sadness in him but it was his anger that reached to her. As always, she felt her rage stretch to meet his. 

He held the crying girl until she pulled back, hiccups popping her mouth open in a surprised “O”. 

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, “I don’t know what came over me.” 

“It’s alright. I know how it feels. The only difference is no one held me,” Elvad said. 

“Why not?” Petra asked. 

“Because I’m a man. Because I’m the oldest and I did what I did to protect my sister. Because I pretended I was okay. Mostly because I let the anger lead, not the sadness,” Elvad said, his own eyes widening as he admitted things he had never said to anyone. The dark and the compelling pull of the blessed of Delana causing him to spill truths at their feet. 

It was in the dark that Elvad finally felt free for the first time. Aze had been right. One moment he felt like the slave he’d been raised to be and the next he was his own man. He could feel Jordan in his veins and for once he wasn’t ashamed. A girl only a few years older than his sister was resting her head on his chest and he felt grateful for the heat in his skin for keeping her warm. He sucked in a breath and looked up, catching Aze’s gaze. 

Aze saw it as it happened. She saw his eyes widen and the feeling of freedom flood in. She recognized it the way she had in herself. It was something Vashti might never fully understand. She wanted to hug him but Petra already was and she suspected the younger girl needed it more. So she simply smiled at him and he looked back, grateful, as he tightened Petra once more into a hug. This time with his own gratitude. 

“We have a way of reminding you of who you are. The truth of it,” Kaeda said simply when Petra squeaked in surprise. 

“I’ve always wondered what you would be like if you weren’t chained up,” Vashti said musingly. 

“Did you see our kind in circuses?” Kaeda asked bitterly. One of the younger girls from the cave chattered to translate for those who couldn’t speak Alyrian. 

“Yes. And in the businesses my father worked with. They told him what to buy and what not to. He tended to stick with jewels instead of cash or trends. As you must know, money is precarious in Alyria. Sometimes it’s worth much and sometimes, too little. I’ve seen families fall simply because of the exchange rate. But my father went faithfully to one of your kind. They had cut out her eyes and crippled her legs. I found it unsettling and my family chastised me for trying to pull the bar from her ankles. They’d nailed it into the bone. She told me I was destined for more than they had in store for me. I was never brought with the family again after that,” Vashti spouted. 

She hadn’t meant to tell them all of that. Not out of hiding but out of kindness. Telling them what could become of them if they had been taken was not something she wished to show them. They’d already promised themselves to her. She didn’t need to frighten them. They were already her allies. She heard faint gasps in their crowd but Mama, Kaeda, and Petra all simply looked somber. Some of the older women also looked unsurprised and after a pause, Mama motioned, muttering to someone until they stepped forward. 

It was a young man and that alone was surprising. Delena was known for picking women. Men chosen by her were few and far between and usually sold as children for the high price they would fetch. This young man had an eye tattooed on his forehead and Vashti felt a bitterness in her throat. Her marks were those of love and devotion. This was clearly not. She stepped forward and then paused. 

“May I?” she asked softly. 

His eyes shifted to the left but he nodded. She bit her lip as she reached up and touched his skin. He shivered under her hand. 

_ Syria….do you see this? This is too much. I want to give them all what they deserve and take what they lost back but I can’t. What do I do here? _

She breathed deeply and waited. Finally, the voice she had come to rely on replied. 

_ It’s good to hear from you, my dear Vashti. I regret not being able to help you but I was told….well I couldn’t. But Jordan is now invested in you. In your future. I’m glad he could be of service. And your little toy there...he’s making my love happy. As to what you asked….you can’t bring it back but you can give them what they deserve. Think of this land in their hands. No more hiding in caves. They could build. Those chosen by my sister….well they’re handy. Smart builders. They see what could be  as they move. It’s stunning. But it’s been forgotten. You give them hope. And then you raise the very ground you walk on to actually hand it to them. Now hush a moment, little one. I want to heal your wounds.  _

_ “ _ Your goddess is kind to you,” the young man said. He didn’t look her in the eye and fiddled with his fingers. 

“She is. But only because I’m kind to her as well,” Vashti said. She dropped her hand from the crude tattoo and gasped as the ragged marks on her body healed. The scars stayed and she smiled grimly, sending a quick thank you to her goddess. 

_ This one is special. He is born of Delana. Keep him safe.  _ Vashti blinked. 

“You’re god born?” she asked in surprise. Aze stepped forward at the words. She’d never met another god born. The young man nodded, his eyes downcast. 

“Delana’s son?” Aze asked. 

“Yes. And you’re born of Oasis. She told me you were coming. She wants me to lie with you. But you aren’t mine to have, are you?” he said, his gaze meeting Aze’s for a moment before turning back to his feet. 

Aze blushed and shook her head. “I’m no one’s,” she said. 

“No,” he sighed, “You are. You might not admit it yet, but soon. It’s alright. I don’t like….to be touched. My mother told me to wait for you, though. She said you could lead us to our future. I told Mama. I didn’t see the hunters until it was too late.” 

“Why lie with Aze?” Vashti asked, a hint of jealousy creeping into her voice. Aze stroked down Vashti’s back in a soothing motion. 

The young man looked surprised. “You don’t know?” 

Kaeda laughed. “Tell her, Und, not everyone is given that information at birth, like you.” 

The young man, named Und, shifted nervously. 

“God born can only bear children with others like us. We tend to make blessed children which is why our parents want us to lie together. But we’re sterile even with the blessed. It’s why there aren’t many of us to begin with. The gods have a hard time lying with humans, especially now, and we are captured or killed before we can find others like us. My mother wants me to make a mixed child with you,” Und said, a blush crawling up his grey skinned neck. 

“Oh,” Aze said, blinking in surprise. Vashti forced down the snarl in her throat and instead asked, “How did you get free?” 

Und blinked rapidly and spoke once more to his feet. “I….uh….didn’t. Kaeda came. Mama had sent her. She drove them mad and then released me. I owe her my life.” 

Vashti relaxed at the words for Und looked over at Kaeda with a light in his eyes that hadn’t shown before. He was in love with his savior. He didn’t want Aze. 

Kaeda smiled warmly in return. “He’s our best asset. The only man and the only god born. And he’s just so sweet.” 

Vashti rolled her eyes but said, “If you’d like me to fix that tattoo, I can.”

Und looked surprised and met her gaze full on for the first time. “What?” 

 

“I tattooed some of my own. Mine are prayers. If you want me to I can change that so it’s at least an ode to the gods, not to the people who wanted to take her from you,” Vashti said. 

Und’s eyes filled with tears. For most of his life kindness had been a foreign concept. Unlike Elvad who had grown angry and strong, Und had weakened under the wretchedness of his life. When Kaeda had found him he’d been a whisper of the boy he’d once been. Only in the care of Mama and the others had he begun to grow. He was clever but hushed. Gentle and kind despite his fear. And now before him stood the 3 he’d heard whispers about. His mother came in his dreams and told him of Syria’s beloved blessed. The one she wished she could claim from her own womb and the only one willing and hopefully able to bring them to power. His mother showed him flashes of Aze, the beautiful and unblemished true born of Oasis whom she wished for him to lie with. And then he would see splashes of fire as Elvad cut into his mind. The angry blessed was the balance the trio needed and even though Und couldn’t understand him, he could be thankful. 

Now they stood before him and he trembled. They were offering him a future he hadn’t known to want. He still wasn’t sure he could take it. But with Kaeda beside him and Mama behind him he thought that just maybe he could step up and be what his mother wished. He fell to his knees in front of Vashti. 

“Please, my queen,” he said, his mother’s words passing his lips without shaking, “Please help me.” 

And Vashti smiled. 


	13. 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group stays in Despori for a while and begin to heal. Vashti lets Aze see into her mind. Elvad tries to heal his anger. The group leaves for the Brisa wood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally caught up to where I need to actually write. Up until now I was editing as I went so this might take me a bit longer to add to now. Hopefully, posting here will add some accountability! Thanks so much for reading and giving this story a chance.

 

THEY spent three weeks in the caves of Delana. Despori was a truly beautiful land when it was given the chance to show it. Some of the smaller children showed Aze where the gardens were and the woman watered them until they bloomed beyond what the children had ever seen. One night, in front of Kaeda and Mama, Vashti took ink to the eye on Und’s face and created a design that looked more like the wind than an eye. When asked why she’d chosen that she simply shook her head and smiled at Und. It was his story to tell, not hers. She’d only drawn what he asked for. 

“Do you ever wonder what’s happening back at home?” Aze asked one morning. They were sitting outside of the cave soaking up what little sun they could see and Vashti gazed back at her partner. 

“My home or yours?” she asked. 

“Yours. I think about my mother sometimes. I wonder what’s happened to her or if there are more blessed now in our caravan. But I mean for you. Do you ever wonder about your family? If the sirens were able to convince others? If your plan even worked?” Aze stared at Vashti, the questions spilling out. 

 

“I don’t think about my family. They have never truly been mine, so why bother? As to the rest, I choose to believe it worked. I won’t wonder. I can’t. I need to see the beauty in our people, not the broken bits of what we left behind,” Vashti replied. 

“That’s beautiful. You have a lyrical soul. You just don’t let people see it,” Aze said with a small smile.

Vashti snorted. “You’re the only person in the world who could say that with any true belief in the words. I’m a monster, Aze. I was built to be one. Don’t see into it more than that.” 

Aze watched Vashti stand and disappear back into the dark. For the first time in many years, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed. 

_ Father. I know you can hear and I used to think you didn’t care. Maybe you don’t. But please. Align yourself with Syria and Jordan. Help us. Help me prove to her she’s more than the world lets her see. Help us rise. Please.  _

There was no response but Aze thought about what Vashti had said to her. “I choose to believe,” she murmured before following Vashti back into the caves. 

  
  


CAMDON  was head of the watch. He couldn’t believe his luck. Everything had fallen into place so easily, it seemed impossible. He was on his way to visit the sand sirens in their temple when he was stopped by one of his subordinates. The man looked frazzled, eyes wide so the whites glowed in the sunlight. 

“Sir,” he said breathlessly. 

“Yes?” Camdon asked, his eyes slits. 

“I….I have nowhere else to go. Please. Someone….well someone told me you might be able to help,” the man babbled.

“With what, soldier?” Camdon replied. 

“My son, sir. My son was born a month ago and he’s….presenting,” the man said the last word quietly as if the people passing by would hear. Camdon understood immediately why this man had come to him. He nodded and jerked his head. The man followed him into the foyer of the temple. 

“What god?” Camdon asked. He saw Beteste out of the corner of his eye. She was sweeping sand in her red robes and she kept her eyes on her task. He knew once the other man left she would speak with him as an equal but she was playing her part. 

“Syria,” the man said, his voice hushed, “I don’t….I don’t want my child sold like these are. We don’t have enough money to keep him from a temple if it comes down to it. Gods help me, but this life saddens me. I won’t do it to him.” 

“You came to me because of my daughter,” Camdon stated. Beteste looked up and then hurried to drop her gaze back down. 

 

“I did,” the man confirmed, “How do you do it? How do you raise her? And won’t the city take him from me?” 

Camdon took the man’s arm and led him gently to a bench outside the main holy room. 

“I just raise her. She’s still my child. She’s still lovely. But yes, if you mess up or if he loses control the city will take him. So you need to be better than anyone else. You need to be a good parent and you need to train him yourself. You learn on your feet. And if you’re truly invested, I’ll help you,” Camdon said. 

“I….I am. He’s so beautiful. How could I do this to him?” the man asked, anguished. 

“You didn’t do this to him. It’s supposed to be a gift,” Camdon said. 

“It’s not. It’s a curse.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Camdon replied and the man looked up in surprise. 

“Come with me. We’ll speak with Beteste. I find she’s the best to go to with these things,” Camdon said. She hurried with her sweeping to escape to her private room. Camdon approached her and smiled, an actor playing his part. 

“Sweet Beteste, how does the goddess fair this afternoon?” he asked.

“She is well,” Beteste said, inclining her head, “Would you like to speak of what you could do to gain her favor today, sir?” 

He nodded and she gave him a charming smile. He felt sick inside for just a moment. Men touched her for that smile. They paid tribute to a goddess for a child’s body. And the goddess was enraged. He led the soldier to Beteste chambers. When she closed the door, her smile fell. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled down at the soldier. 

“What’s your name?” she demanded. He blinked and leaned back at the sudden change of tone. 

“Brek,” he replied nervously.

“You have a son. And you don’t want him to end up like me,” she stated. 

He looked at Camdon who nodded in assurance. Clearing his throat, he said softly, “That’s right. He doesn’t deserve this life. I’m sorry to say it….”

Beteste’s face softened and she shifted back onto her heels. 

“Very well. And it’s alright. I wouldn’t wish this life on myself, either. What’s your son’s name?” 

“Cash. For my mother. Cashia. She always praised Syria more than any other god or goddess. Please, can you help him?” Brek asked. 

“We can. If you help us,” Beteste said. She looked over at Camdon who nodded once more and waited. He’d recruited a few of his men this way. Most scared for someone close to them. Some sympathetic. But they had all come to this room and they had all stood up to Beteste’s scrutiny. Brek was just one of many. Hesitantly, he nodded. 

“What do you need?” he asked. 

“Only a promise,” Camdon spoke up.

 

“A promise of what?” Brek asked, his voice lowering. 

“Your allegiance when the war knocks on our door. It’s coming. There’s no way to stop it. You must know that Latva fell. Despori can’t be far behind and then what? When our cities have fallen and we’re all that’s left they’ll come here. And I want you to pledge yourself to them. When they arrive I want you to stand in my elite force and fight for the blessed and for the gods. There’s a new world coming. I want you to be a part of it,” Camdon said. 

He and Beteste watched Brek’s face as the words were spoken. For a long time he stayed silent. 

“Before my son….I would’ve killed you both for this,” he started. Beteste snorted but Camdon put up his hand to wait. 

Brek continued. “But now….he deserves a better world. We all do. Gods help us, but I promise. I will yield to the one they call the traitor. I will fight for my son. So maybe he can stand tall one day, even if it means I must kneel.” 

Camdon nodded at the words. Beteste studied the man and then stepped closer to him, leaning in. 

“My mother sold me to this temple. For nothing more than pride. Tell me. If this goes wrong somehow, will you turn on us? Will you turn on your son to gain back your pride?” she asked. 

Camdon waited. Even when Brek turned to him with pleading eyes, he waited. Finally Brek turned back to Beteste. 

“I hope I won’t,” he said miserably, “I want to stand by my son. Even if we fail, I want to stay by his side. He deserves a better world.” 

After a moment of silence Beteste nodded. “Very well.” 

Camdon smiled. “Welcome to the fight. First off, you’ll be changing infintries. Then we’ll deal with your son.” 

  
  


AZE found Elvad sitting with Petra. They both had their eyes closed and her hands were resting on top of his. Aze leaned against the wall of the cave and waited. After a few breaths Elvad opened his eyes and smiled at Petra. She smiled back, her own eyes opening slowly. 

“That’s good,” she praised, “Your mind is quieting.” 

“And you’re getting better at guiding it,” he said, his voice soft. Aze cleared her throat. 

“I knew you were there,” Petra said serenely. “Would you like to try?” 

“I don’t think I need to relax my mind,” Aze denied. 

“No one ever really thinks that, but usually they do. No one is perfect. Especially us. Those like us carry baggage,” Petra said. 

Aze shook her head. “No, thank you.” 

 

Petra nodded and patted Elvad’s knee, seeming more comfortable with him than she had when she first met him. 

“Maybe another time,” she said and stood, wandering farther into the cave with a dreamy look in her eye. 

“What did you need?” Elvad asked. 

Aze sat across from him and sighed. “It just seems like you’re both getting complacent. We can’t stay here.” 

“I know,” Elvad said. 

“But does Vashti?” Aze asked. She’d lain with her partner the night before and had tried to bring up leaving but Vashti had fallen asleep. 

“Just let her have this for a bit. I think she’s been working with Und on her mind. Maybe she just wants to feel safe for a little bit longer,” Elvad replied. 

“I just….I don’t feel comfortable here. I want to get going,” she said in frustration, pushing her hair away from her face. 

“I think you should sit in on one of Vashti’s sessions. If she’ll let you. You might learn something. Then maybe you’ll know when it’s time to go,” Elvad said. 

“Oh don’t be so pompous,” Aze snapped.

“I’m not. Just...relax. Take a deep breath. Maybe even let them help you. I don’t think there are any of us that aren’t a little bit broken,” he said. 

“I liked you better when you were angry,” Aze retorted and left in a huff. 

He blinked after her and then shrugged, closing his eyes and sinking back into the softness that Petra had placed in his mind. 

  
  


AZE sought out Vashti next.  She was sitting with Und, their knees touching and prayers on their lips. She opened her eyes when Aze entered the room and for a moment Aze felt swamped with feelings. Something blazed behind Vashti’s eyes and she smiled. 

“Aze,” she greeted warmly. 

“Vashti….I wanted to talk to you-” Aze started but Und interrupted.

“About when you could leave. It’s not time yet. Just a few more days, daughter to Oasis,” he said, his eyes still closed. His voice was more firm than Aze had ever heard it. She looked over at him in confusion. 

“How do you know that?” she asked. 

 

“Because the winds haven’t changed. The wood doesn’t call for you yet and the ships heading South have yet to turn the sea. It’s all in good time. Come sit with us. I’d like to share your mind,” he murmured. 

The tattoo on his forehead now looked more like the markings Vashti wore. Aze thought about running her fingers along the gentle curves of her lover’s body and blinked when Und smiled. 

“Come. Vashti has told me it’s alright to share her mind with you. I’d like to guide you both,” he said. 

“Guide us?” Aze asked as she sunk down to her knees. Vashti took her hand.

“Und, Petra, Mama, and Kaeda all have the ability to guide minds through meditation. They think some of the younger ones do as well but they’re not trained for it. Und has been guiding me through my memories so I can see where all of who I am came from,” Vashti explained. 

“And you’d share that with me?” Aze asked softly. 

Vashti smiled. “Of course. I’d share everything with you.” 

Aze blinked. She was always surprised by the sheer amount of commitment Vashti seemed to have towards her. It had been months but still she felt like maybe the blessed woman would turn from her on a whim. 

“I thought….” Aze trailed off. Und scooted closer and touched her knee gently. She tried not to wince at the touch. 

“You can show her what you thought just as she can show you. You just have to trust each other. And me,” he said. 

“It’s not her I’m worried about,” Aze said. 

Vashti looked over at her anxious partner and squeezed her hand. 

“He won’t go anywhere you don’t want him to go. He hasn’t delved past my own defenses but it’s good. It’s good to look it over and to see it from the outside,” Vashti said. 

After taking a deep breath, Aze nodded and they both looked at Und. He inclined his head and took both of their hands. 

“Take a deep breath and don’t panic,” he said. Then they were falling. The first place they landed was in Vashti’s head. The sand was vivid and bright, nearly blinding Aze. Vashti was sitting in front of her estate, sand snaking up her wrists and a smile on her face. She was a child. Thick, chubby, legs and fingernails nearly the size of the sand grains themselves. 

“What are you doing?” a sharp voice snapped and as Vashti looked up, the three could see the severe woman glaring down at her. 

“Playing,” young Vashti said defiantly. 

“Not like that, you don’t. What have your father and I told you?” her mother put her hands on her bare hips and stared down her child. 

 

Vashti stared back. 

“It’s for the goddess,” the girl said, “She told me to.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Syria doesn’t speak to you. She doesn’t speak to anyone. The gods and goddesses don’t care about you,” her mother said in disgust. 

Aze recoiled from the voice but young Vashti shook her head. “You don’t know anything,” she told her mother, “You’re small. Just like she said.” 

The memory faded as young Vashti marched past her mother back into the estate. 

This time it was Aze’s memory. She didn’t try to pull it back. Instead she let herself look in on who she used to be. Young Aze was small. Her skin creamy but covered in welts and her eyes wide. She looked trapped. 

“Aze! Aze! You get over here right now!” her mother’s shrill voice called across the oasis. Aze flinched and trudged toward it. 

“Your one job is to keep the water running for me. Where have you been?” Her mother grabbed a handful of her daughter’s hair and yanked. Beside her, Aze heard Vashti hiss. 

“I’m sorry Mama,” young Aze quivered, “I was following the stream.” 

“There is no stream. This is an oasis, you idiot child. It makes you see things. Don’t leave camp again. I rely on you,” her mother said, dragging the girl back to a tent as the memory faded out. 

This time they could feel Vashti take control. It was the first time she saw Aze. A small child broken and beaten in the road. The memory stilled. 

“This wasn’t just a disguise. It was how you felt,” Vashti stated, her voice echoing as her mind and mouth spoke together. 

Aze couldn’t bring herself to speak so she nodded. The two looked at the shared moment in silence. 

“You were….larger than life. Beautiful. Lethal. I’d seen others on the road. Other blessed. None looked like you. Everyone looked beaten down. But you seemed to glow. And you challenged me. For the first time in a long time I was having  _ fun _ ,” Aze said finally. 

Vashti smiled. Even with her eyes closed Aze could feel it. 

“I was too. You weren’t what you said you were. It was exhilarating.” 

“Can we talk about what changed?” Und asked softly. He was here not just to show them, but to guide. After a moment, they both nodded. He led them through the memories to the day Vashti watched Aze get beaten. “Would you have let her die?” 

“I didn’t,” Vashti said firmly. 

“You didn’t. But what changed? Would you have? What did you see?” Und pressed. 

Vashti twisted uncomfortably and looked at the bloodied Aze at the feet of the guard. The memory froze, stuck on Aze’s broken body and Vashti’s moment of decision. “For a time I didn’t care about anyone. At all. I hated the weak monks at the temple and their bumbling disciples. I hated that it was only because of my parent’s status that I didn’t end up there, selling my body in reverence to a goddess no one knew. I even hated those like me for falling in line. Meeting you didn’t change that feeling. I could use you. You were a toy. Something fun to play with. And you followed me with absolute trust. I’m not proud of what saved you but I am glad I did,” she said. 

“You haven’t said what it was,” Und said softly. 

Vashti sucked on her teeth and touched the place her nose ring used to be. “It was….that I could continue to use her. She was devoted. She would die in service to me and she was going to. It was partially guilt but partially a choice. I wanted to keep her with me so I could continue in the path my goddess laid before me. It wasn’t until after that I decided on this plan. To find others who either didn’t know their powers or were pushed down. And it wasn’t until later that I truly began to….care….for Aze. For you,” Vashti added, looking over at Aze. 

The memory seemed to shimmer in front of them. It took a long time for Aze to speak. 

“I….I knew what I was to you. What I am, really. I’m god born. I’m stronger than you. Than anyone we’ve met. Other than Und. But you were still fair, if not kind to me. You paid me for my help. You joked with me. It felt like a friendship. When he began to hit me I didn’t think you’d step in. No one I’d ever known would have. My devotion to you was born of respect, not blindness. And after that day it was out of me being grateful. I cared for you far quicker I think, but I’m still not sure it’s even,” Aze confessed. 

Vashti looked to Und. “Can I lead us somewhere?”

Und nodded. Vashti ducked into her mind and pulled up the moment in Despori that she’d come to the cave and Aze had flown into her arms. Aze flushed at the memory.

“You ran to me here. You didn’t think about what I’d done or what you could do for me. You just ran. If I had seen you first I would’ve done the same. Somewhere along these lines you’ve become more. So has Elvad. You’re both….indispensable to me. In more ways than one. I don’t know how to say it any better than that,” she confessed, “But I want you to understand. It’s you. Only you and probably always. This is not something I do. I just….I need you to know that.” 

Aze looked on as Vashti caught her and as they laughed. They were so bright. Shining into one another. She tipped her head.

“I know you probably won’t say it. That’s okay,” Aze said thoughtfully, “But I’m glad you feel it. And I know. I know you do. That’s enough.” 

The memory shuddered between them. In her surprise, Vashti opened her eyes, taking them all out of the memories. Und looked disoriented but Aze looked at Vashti with a strange light in her eyes. Neither of them spoke and for a moment there was complete stillness. Then Vashti moved. She lunged across the space to take Aze’s mouth with her own. Und let out a yelp of surprise and scrambled back as the two women clung to one another. 

 

He knew they loved each other. He knew the way it marked their souls. But he hadn’t seen it. He didn’t want Aze but even if he did, she would never lie with him. Her body and mind belonged to Vashti, even if she denied it. When Vashti climbed on top of Aze, he stood and rushed away.

When they were finished and the cave was once more echoing in its silence, Aze traced her fingers over the new scars on Vashti’s chest. 

“We can’t stay here,” she said softly. Vashti sighed. 

“I know. We’ll move on to the forest soon,” she replied. 

“Why do you want to stay?” Aze asked hesitantly. She knew she was pushing the boundaries they had so carefully erected. She knew that there was a very thin line that Vashti would not allow her to cross, but she wanted to know. 

The other woman sighed once more. “It’s safe. For you. For Elvad. It’s a nice break. It reminds me why I’m doing this. Who I’m doing this for. The blessed of Delana are so often seen as weak because their abilities don’t manifest like ours. It isn’t a physical strength. And yet they’ve helped us. Kept us hidden and safe from harm. Even those that others deem lesser are still worthy. I needed to see it. Not just the anger, but the joy.” 

Aze contemplated the response before forming her own. “I guess I can understand that. I always thought of myself as lesser. Imagine being told by everyone that not only are you below them, you’re less than even the others of your kind. Seeing their world...it is nice. And...what Und did for us…”

Vashti smiled. It was less the feral grin she had for the world and more a gentle acceptance. Aze coveted the look. She rolled so she could look up at Vashti more fully. 

“Are you okay with what Und showed me?” she asked carefully. 

Vashti flicked her tongue against the ring in her lip. It was newly placed, Kaeda’s soft but sure hands having pierced it into Vashti’s full mouth. “I am.”

Aze decided to drop it. Vashti’s eyes were dark and filled with sleep but still the woman could push her away. Always, there was the threat of it being too much. She let her head sink into the woman’s golden stomach. 

“Wake me when it’s time to eat,” she murmured, “You made me hungry.” 

Vashti’s laugh was always worth it. Aze fell asleep to the sound. She thought it must be the most wonderful sound in the world. 

  
  


ELVAD’S  anger wasn’t gone and he knew it. Three days later, as they packed to leave, he hugged Petra tightly and hoped that her scent would linger long enough to keep him calm. He’d found an odd sort of peace with her. A peace he’d forgotten. Her smile came slowly, her words soft. And yet she hadn’t given up on him. As Und had guided Vashti’s mind, Petra had soothed his. She pushed back his hair, worry in her gaze. 

 

“Don’t get yourself killed,” she said. 

“I don’t plan to. I want to see the new world,” he said, enjoying the smile it produced. 

“The creatures in Brisa’s woods won’t let you find them unless they want you to. Find those blessed by Diandi. They will be able to help you first,” Kaeda explained, Mama chattering behind her. Vashti smiled, pulling her furs around her shoulders. 

“I believe those who live on the wind have been helping me. I will not disgrace them by forcing their hand. Diandi hasn’t come to the war table yet, from what Syria has told me. I will have to seek her out on my own. The hunters in the wood won’t know what’s coming,” she said. 

Aze linked their fingers and smiled at Und hesitantly. “Tell your mother I thank her for the gift she sought to give, but I’ve chosen another path.”

“She knows,” he said. After a moment’s hesitation, he leaned in, pressing a kiss to Vashti’s forehead. She looked surprised, nearly flinching back until she felt a spark of power travel down from his lips. He smiled softly as he stepped back.

“May the mother of time guide your way,” he said. Aze looked between the two curiously, nodding when Vashti squeezed her fingers. They would discuss it later. 

“And may the lady of sand keep you protected,” Vashti replied formally. She smiled at the warmth in her spine at the words. The gods were coming together and soon the world of humans would fall. She only needed to continue on as she had been and soon enough, the world would be theirs. As they left the warm caves of Despori and trekked across the unforgiving landscape, Vashti endeavoured to find the beauty in it as she had with Delana’s blessed. It took three weeks to pass through the caves, their careful pace slowing them down. It was odd being alone again and they each found something lacking after being with the other blessed. 

“I want to go home,” Vashti confessed one evening, flicking sand bits into the flames Elvad had created. 

“To Alyria?” Aze asked.

“Or to the mansion?” Elvad asked, tension making him snappy. 

Vashti whipped him with the sand, grinning when he yelped. “Alyria,” she clarified. “I miss the crystal towers. The jewels. The light. And please, allow me this vanity for once, won’t you?” 

She rolled her head back to glare at Elvad who snorted  smoke at her but kept his mouth shut. 

“Good. Being so far from it has me longing to return. But we won’t. Not for a long time yet,” she continued. “I want to see the towers again. I want to walk in the streets and not feel disgusted. I want you two by my side as I take back my home.” 

“We’ll be there,” Aze said. 

Vashti sighed. “Yes. But when?” 

“Hopefully soon. I’d like to return to Latva,” Elvad said. 

“I’m sure Tirion is ruling well,” Aze offered. Elvad sneered. 

“That is not my only reason for going home, spitfire,” he said. 

“I didn’t say it was! But she’s powerful! I’m sure she’s safe! You think we don’t hear you in your sleep?” Aze demanded, sitting up fully, water splashing from her fingertips. 

“Enough,” Vashti ordered on a yawn. “We’ll reach the wood tomorrow and we cannot be divided. Everything we’ve worked for, everything we still have to accomplish, we have to rely on one another. You two can’t keep lunging for each other’s throats. It was enjoyable at first. Now it’s tiring. We all want to go home. That is enough to note.” 

“You started it,” Elvad said. He didn’t immediately regret the words. Not until the silence was overwhelming. He rolled his head to the side, swallowing thickly at the look in Vashti’s eyes. “I-”

He stopped as she rolled over. She was suddenly straddling him, her new scars red and bright and her hands pinning his arms down. 

“I have given you a freedom you couldn’t have dreamed of. Without me, you’d have killed yourself in slavery and your people would still be trapped in the mountain. I want you beside me, make no mistake. But. I will cut you loose if you can’t fall in line. Do you understand me?” she asked, her voice deadly quiet. 

He nodded slowly. She sat back, her bottom on his legs. “Good,” she purred. “Now. Drop it and go to sleep.”

Rolling off of him, she curled back into her spot and closed her eyes, leaving her two followers to think about what she’d said.  The tension built until she began to snore softly. Aze looked at Vashti.

“I don’t know how you do that,” Elvad said sourly. Aze looked up. 

“Do what?”

“Look at her like she’s some precious and fragile thing. That woman could blow the world to the ground if she wanted to, yet to you she’s...what? Gentle?”

Aze laughed, covering her mouth when Vashti snuffled in her sleep. “She’s not fragile or gentle. She’s just special. Haven’t you ever...loved someone?” 

Aze kept her gaze on Vashti as she spoke. She didn’t know what the woman would do if she woke and heard Aze speaking. They hadn’t said those words and Aze didn’t plan to. It was a stolen moment, one she was happy to take but only if Vashti didn’t know. 

“Not like that,” Elvad said, shaking his head. He leaned back, looking up into the sky. “I don’t know how you do that. Doesn’t she terrify you?”

Aze rolled onto her stomach. “Yes,” she said honestly, “but that’s the fun part. She’s the most unnerving thing in my life and I wouldn’t change it. Not for a second.”

“And if she decides she doesn’t need you?” Elvad prompted.

“I think you’re missing the point. She doesn’t need either of us. She wants us. That’s the honor. If she decided right now that she didn’t want me...well I’d go. Because of how I feel. She gets whatever she wants. She saved our lives. She’s saving the lives of others like us. I don’t think you get to complain about how she does it. Not when it had never occured to you to try,” she commented. 

Elvad considered that and then sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever…” He trailed off and Aze smiled at him, the edges of it looking brittle. 

“Yeah, I know. Sometimes it’s too late. The blessed who helped keep water in my home camp before me...he drowned himself when I was born because he knew. He could be free. Sometimes...sometimes we never get to be what we want,” Aze said. 

Elvad stared at the stars and felt the power in his veins. For the longest time, it had been a curse. It wasn’t until Vashti had come for him that he’d begun to see it as a strength. Tirion did. She stood proudly with her crown and no one could take that from her. He was glad of that even if he wished he could join her in that pride. Some part of him still felt petulant and angry at his life. He knew that Vashti understood the madness. She had some of her own and it called to him, but the rest of it she could never touch. She hadn’t grown up ashamed, even if they had wanted her to be.  She had never had to hide. She was asleep in the sand with a goddess watching over her. With his eyes on the sky, Elvad thought about prayer. 

He’d shied away from it for so long, he was no longer sure if it would mean anything if he tried it. His god was a fearsome one and he didn’t take kindly to being ignored. Elvad sighed and rolled onto his side. He couldn’t pray. Not yet. But the sun would rise and they would be at the woodlands, on to meet another ally. Maybe then he would be able to give himself to his god. He fell asleep wishing he could be better. 


End file.
